The Embalmer (Japanese: 死化粧師, Hepburn: Shigeshōshi) is a manga series written and illustrated by Mitsukazu Mihara.

A 12-episode live-action drama adaption called Shigeshōshi was produced and ran on TV Tokyo, Aichi Television Broadcasting, and TVQ Kyūshū; it was later released in a boxset by the company VAP.

Traditionally, cremation is the usual technique reserved for the dead, and, as a result, Shinjyurou faces discrimination for his line of work.

The series has received relatively positive reviews from Western critics, and the first four volumes have sold cumulatively over 300,000 copies.

Though accepted into a medical school, Shinjyurou transferred to an embalming university in Pittsburgh after his father had died from stepping on a mine in the Middle East.

Shinjyurou becomes roommates with a Chinese student named Chansoo "Chan" Lee, who had taken an interest in embalming, despite his parents' wishes.

Shinjyurou has trouble at the university due to his lacking in English language skills, but with help from the dean, Susan Garret, he is able to graduate as the valedictorian.

Shinjyurou later interns at an embalming agency in San Francisco under a man named Peter Rabbit, who shares the same principal as Dudley and talks to corpses while working.

Shinjyurou works adamantly to make corpses retain their original, living appearance to allow relatives and friends to say a proper farewell.

Shortly after, the daughter of a woman embalmed by Shinjyurou visited and thanked him for allowing her to give a proper farewell and find closure.

In the live-action series, Renji offers people who have lost loved ones a chance to have a "magician" restore the deceased to their past appearance before death.

Shinjyurou proceeds to tell him that he gave him "Lincoln", a metaphor postulating that Mitsuru would go on to accomplish great things.

[5] Written and illustrated by Mitsukazu Mihara, The Embalmer was originally serialized in the Japanese Shodensha magazine Feel Young.

[8] The first tankōbon of The Embalmer was released in Japan by Shodensha on July 25, 2003 under the Feel Comics label,[9] while the seventh and last was published on September 6, 2013.

[13] In August 2010, Tokyopop stated, via their Twitter account, that they are looking into other means of distributing the series, such as digitally or print on demand, citing poor sales and that retailers were refusing to stock it.

[14] In April 2011, Tokyopop announced that their North American branch would cease all publishing operations by May 31 and would release details on specific series within the following weeks.

[16] Shodensha magazine Feel Young announced in its September 2008 issue that The Embalmer would be adapted into a 12-episode live-action drama called Shigeshōshi (死化粧師).

[24] The series was aired on TV Tokyo's Drama 24 segment on Friday nights,[24] as well as Aichi Television Broadcasting and TVQ Kyūshū.

[6] Shigeshōshi was scripted by Sumino Kawashima and Ayako Katō, while Masahiro Mori, Hideo Mizumura, Minoru Tamegai, and Takeo Kakinuma directed episodes.

[31] Key to My Heart (ココロの鍵, Kokoro no Kagi), by Yorico, was released on November 14, 2007 under the record label EMI Music Japan.

[36] She commented that "each volume contains vivid, poignant scenarios that dramatize the very human need for closure when a loved one dies unexpectedly, showing us how personal tragedy leads to catharsis".

Dacey also praised the art, saying that "highly stylized figures" and "empty backgrounds amplify her [Mihara's] characters’ shifting moods from despair to peaceful acceptance".

[39] Gertz felt that while "it may disappoint readers looking for a gothic depiction of death and loss, since this series is her most realistic", others "interested in thanatology" could enjoy it.