He then proceeded to grow up and go to school, but let us draw a discreet curtain over those days.
After graduating from high school, he landed a job as an editor for Puff, a comics news magazine. While there, it is rumored he was responsible for the parody comic called `X'-pa no Yoko-chan that ran in Puff.
One of his jobs as editor was to interview Tatsuya "Comics Master" Egawa (who was running his ground-breaking Be Free! serial in Kodansha's Comic Morning magazine at that time). After the interview he got up the nerve to ask Egawa if he needed an assistant. Egawa looked at his work and said "Sure!" Thus our unsuspecting young editor plunged into the abyss of comic artist hell....
In 1986, Be Free! was made into a live-action theatrical movie. For Comic Morning, Fujishima did a comic-style report on the making of the film, and he generally dates his debut as a professional from that publication.
The fans loved his work, and Morning received a fan letter raving about the policewoman characters Fujishima had used in the Making of Be Free! report. He was inspired by this letter to create his first series, You're Under Arrest!, which began in Morning Party Extra in 1986.
In 1988, he did a four-panel gag cartoon which featured the characters from You're Under Arrest! praying to a goddess. This was part of contest in which readers could win various You're Under Arrest! presents (such as T-shirts, etc.). In the cartoon, Miyuki and Natsumi were asking the goddess to please let them win the contest. Fujishima was so pleased with the way the goddess turned out that she became the basis for Belldandy, and inspired the creation of the Oh My Goddess! series for Afternoon magazine.
So as you can see, his stories are often inspired by some minor character he creates for another purpose entirely....
Currently, he's drawing Oh My Goddess! in the monthly magazine Afternoon (where he also does Striker at random intervals), as well as numerous illustrations for other magazines, character designs for video games, etc.
He has a ridiculous number of hobbies, including: building plastic models and garage kits; playing electric guitar, playing with his new Mac, and taking care of his numerous tropical fish. He also owns, rides, and repairs his seven (!) motorcycles and three cars.
He listens to DMX (a digital, commercial-free radio service) while he works, and likes classic American hard rock such as Van Halen and Bon Jovi. He also likes Japanese idol singers--in fact, there is a quite convincing rumor that the name "Morisato" (from Oh My Goddess!) comes from the name of the idol singer Moritaka Chisato.
