Hanawa Kazuichi is a Japanese manga artist based in Hokkaido, Japan. He was born in Yorii, Osato, Saitama, Japan.

He began his career as an illustrator in 1970 and made his debut as a manga artist with "Kanno Mushi," published in the July 1971 issue of the monthly manga magazine "Garo."

Due to longstanding conflicts with his stepfather, he moved to Tokyo after graduating from junior high school and worked in a factory while drawing illustrations for magazines. After a few years of debut, he temporarily stopped writing, but upon receiving a commission for a new magazine launch, he started drawing supernatural fantasy set in medieval Japan.

However, on December 11, 1994, he was arrested by the Hokkaido Police and the Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of violating the Firearms and Swords Control Law for possessing modified model guns, malfunctioning handguns he had repaired, rifles, and 116 live rounds. He was released on December 31 of the same year. He was prosecuted while on house arrest and received a three-year prison sentence without probation for illegal possession of firearms and violations of the Explosives Control Law, with a five-year request. On October 11 of the same year, he was sentenced to serve time in the Sapporo Prison and Hakodate Juvenile Detention Center.

On September 4, 1997, he was conditionally released. After being released from prison, he published "Inside the Prison," a prison memoir manga that depicted the inside of prison life.

(Source: Japanese = Wikipedia || Translation/Edit = MyDramaList)