He began his career by lettering comic books (notably
Groo the Wanderer by
Sergio Aragonés and
Mark Evanier) and wrote and illustrated
The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy; a comic series with a
medieval setting, influenced by
Groo the Wanderer. The characters first appeared in
Albedo Anthropomorphics #2 in 1984, and they were subsequently featured in issues of
Critters,
Grimjack,
Amazing Heroes and
Furrlough. Sakai became famous with the creation of
Usagi Yojimbo, the epic saga of
Miyamoto Usagi, a
samurai rabbit living in late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth-century Japan. First published in 1984, the comic continues to this day, with Sakai as the lone author and nearly sole artist (
Tom Luth serves as the main colorist on the series, and Sergio Aragonés has made two small contributions to the series: the story "Broken Ritual" (
Usagi Yojimbo vol. 1, issue 33, published by
Fantagraphics) is based on an idea by Aragonés, and he served as a guest inker for the black-and-white version of the story "Return to Adachi Plain", from
Usagi Yojimbo vol. 3, issue 10, published by Dark Horse, and reprinted in the collection
Seasons.). He also created a futuristic spinoff series
Space Usagi. His favorite movie is
Satomi Hakkenden (1959). The
Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles's
Little Tokyo presented an exhibit entitled "Year of the Rabbit: Stan Sakai's
Usagi Yojimbo" from July 9 through October 30, 2011. Sakai wrote and illustrated the story "I'm Not in Springfield Anymore!" for ''
Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #7
and illustrated the back cover of Treehouse of Horror #6''. (Co-creator of TMNT) at
San Diego Comic-Con in 2017 Sakai was the artist for
Riblet, the back-up feature in the
Bone spinoff miniseries and trade paperback,
Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails. In 2013, Sakai illustrated the limited comic book series
47 Ronin, an adaptation of the famed story of the
47 Ronin written by
Dark Horse Comics Publisher
Mike Richardson and with
Lone Wolf and Cub writer
Kazuo Koike as an editorial consultant. The seventh episode of the 2012
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series'
fifth season, "Yojimbo", was written by Sakai and features Miyamoto Usagi, who has appeared in a few TMNT shows to
date. In 2020, it was announced that Sakai would serve as an executive producer on the then-upcoming
Netflix original animated series
Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, which is based on
Usagi Yojimbo. In April 2022, Sakai was reported among the more than three dozen comics creators who contributed to
Operation USA's benefit anthology book,
Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds, a project spearheaded by
IDW Publishing Special Projects Editor
Scott Dunbier, whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for
Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sakai's contribution is an original
Usagi Yojimbo story in which the main character comes to the aid of refugees fleeing the invasion of their land by a warlord, themes that speak to the events in Ukraine. In July 2025, during that year's
San Diego Comic-Con, collectible company Thrilljoy collaborated with Sakai under their PIX! line in order to create an artist series figure of their mascot, Bloo. It released on their website as a pre-order during the convention and was only available for 48 hours. The company later released a figure of Usagi Yojimbo and a
cherry blossom variation of the Sakai Bloo. ==Awards==