One of Shungiku's happiest memories from her childhood was getting a ream of rough paper from her fourth grade teacher, as a gift for saying that her dream was to become a manga artist.
[2] Shungiku dropped out of high school in her second year and worked in restaurants, bars, in a printshop, and as a domestic.
She then attended Keio University, majoring in philosophy in the Department of Literature, but left before completing a degree.
Together with other female artists who worked for hentai magazines such as Kyoko Okazaki, Erica Sakurazawa and Yōko Kondo, she is sometimes referred to as "onna no ko H mangaka" ("women H cartoonists").
[3] Her representative works include Wakaokusama Tamajigoku and Minami-kun no Koibito (which was later adapted into three drama series).