From AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY in the Graphic Novel Ghost in the Shell:

In 1983, Shirow Masamune published his first manga, "Black Magic" from Atlas, a science fiction dojin manga society (dojin is the Japanese term to describe an amateur fan publication).

In 1985, Shirow's first major work, "Appleseed," was published by Seishinsha, without being serialized in or submitted to a manga magazine, which is quite rare in the Japanese manga publishing industry.  Shortly thereafter, Shirow set up his own company, and besides working on his own manga and illustration work, took on projects from the anime and game industry, as well as designing pens, air guns, and computer mice.  Since 1996, he has created his artwork through the computer, and from 2000, graphics work in color, writing, and project development has occupied most of his time.  He does not consider himself a mainstream professional manga artist, but his fans and supporters in the industry consider him to be one of the all-time great manga creators.  Since before the days of the anime movement, Shirow's work has been recognized and highly respected outside Japan.  He has been active in numerous anime and game projects but it is rare for him to take the helm of such projects, or even to have his name used prominently.

Shirow Masamune was born in Japan in Chuo Ward, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, on November 23, 1961.  He still lives in the same district.