Manga creator Ashita no Joe says he feels a strong sense of responsibility to honor Image via Tetsuya Chiba's blog The Japanese government honored Ashita no Joe manga creator Tetsuya Chiba on Friday with the Order of Literature award become prestigious. Tetsuya is the first manga author to receive this honor. This medal is awarded to those who “have made outstanding contributions to the development” of Japanese culture.
Chiba stated in a blog post that now that that honor also includes the manga world, he feels a great responsibility as a representative of the industry. He said that he felt the creative work of all the manga authors was recognized with the award. He added that he hopes manga will continue to become an aspect of Japanese culture enjoyed by people around the world. He also thanked the original authors, publishers, editors, booksellers and everyone involved in producing and publishing the manga.
Chiba debuted as a manga author in 1956. He is perhaps best known for his Ashita no Joe boxing manga (Tomorrow's Joe), which ran from 1968 to 1973, and remains mainstay in Japanese popular culture for decades. The manga inspired two television anime in 1970 and 1980, as well as two anime films in 1980 and 1981. Most recently, the manga's story has been reimagined in a new science fiction setting with new character in the 2018 Megalobox anime. original manga as its source. Megalobox's sequel, Megalobox 2: Nomad, launches in April 2021.
Chiba was nominated to the Japan Academy of Art in 2022 as one of the first two manga creators (along with Yoshiharu Tsuge). He is also currently the president of the Japan Comic Artists Association.
Chiba is 85 years old and had heart surgery to create a coronary artery bypass in January 2022. Chiba noted in a blog post on Friday that he also recently had eye surgery.
His manga Hinemosu Notari Nikki was being written but has been on hiatus since August.
Source: blog, Japanese Anime News