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Tetsuya Chiba, creator of 'Ashita no Joe', dies at 87: the man who made manga a national story

Tetsuya Chiba, the manga artist behind the boxing epic Ashita no Joe, has died aged 87, his publisher Kodansha announced on Tuesday, October 27. He died at a Tokyo hospital the previous week; no cause was given, the AP report carried by The Boston Globe said.

The Japan Times led with his status: born in Tokyo in 1939, he was the first manga artist to receive the Order of Culture, one of Japan's highest cultural honours. Ashita no Joe, about an orphan who becomes a professional boxer, ran in the 1960s and 1970s and became a national sensation; AP recalls that fans held a mock funeral for the hero's rival. His other works include Chikai no Makyu, Ore wa Teppei and Notari Matsutaro.

“Master Chiba's tremendous contributions to the world of manga are truly irreplaceable.” — Kodansha, via Malay Mail

Malay Mail, running an AFP report, described a seven-decade career in which Chiba also taught at university and led the Japan Cartoonists Association, and noted that Kodansha has run a Tetsuya Chiba Award for young artists for 46 years. AP stressed another side: a vocal supporter of peace and free expression who drew on childhood memories of war.

How each outlet framed it

• The Japan Times — the first Order of Culture for a manga artist.
• The Boston Globe (AP) — the father of sports manga, and his anti-war convictions.
• Malay Mail (AFP) — a postwar career that shaped generations of artists.

Where the details differ: Kodansha said he died "last Thursday"; an AFP photo caption gives October 22. No outlet named a cause of death.