Lead: Tetsuya Chiba, the manga artist who drew Ashita no Joe and became the first manga creator awarded Japan’s Order of Culture, has died at 87, his longtime publisher Kodansha announced on October 27.
What happened
According to Kodansha’s official notice, Chiba died at 6 p.m. on October 22 at a hospital in Tokyo. Jiji Press and Anime News Network (citing Comic Natalie and NHK) report the cause as myelodysplastic syndrome, a cancer that affects blood-forming cells in the bone marrow. A family-only funeral has already been held. Kodansha says a public farewell gathering is under consideration, with details to follow, and that the family is declining flowers, condolence gifts and press requests.
Chiba’s health had been fragile for several years. He was hospitalized in late 2021, underwent heart surgery in January 2022, and on September 25 this year paused Hinemosu Notari Nikki, the autobiographical essay manga he had been drawing for Big Comic since December 2015, because of poor health.
Born in Tokyo on January 11, 1939, Chiba spent his early childhood in Manchuria, in what is now northeastern China, and returned to Japan after World War II. He turned professional at 17 in 1956 with a book for the rental-library market, began his first magazine serial in 1958, and reached weekly shonen magazines in 1961. His best-known work, Ashita no Joe, was written by Asao Takamori (a pen name of Ikki Kajiwara) and ran from 1968 to 1973. It produced TV anime in 1970 and 1980 and two theatrical films in 1980 and 1981. Other major titles include Shiden-kai no Taka, Harris no Kaze, Ore wa Teppei, Ashita Tenki ni Naare and Notari Matsutarō.
Why Tetsuya Chiba matters to manga and anime
Few artists shaped the visual language of sports manga the way Tetsuya Chiba did. Joe Yabuki, the scrappy orphan who boxes his way out of the Tokyo slums, became a cultural shorthand in Japan for burning yourself out chasing one goal. Its famous closing image of Joe is one of the most recognizable in manga, and the series’ DNA keeps showing up in new work. The clearest recent example is Megalobox (2018), a sci-fi reimagining that credits Ashita no Joe as its source and got a sequel, Megalobox 2: Nomad, in 2021.
His influence on the industry went beyond his own pages. He was still chair of the Japan Cartoonists Association at the time of his death and served as president of Bunsei University of Art. Kodansha’s rookie award, the Chiba Tetsuya Prize, has been running for 46 years and has launched many professional careers. In 2022 he and Yoshiharu Tsuge became the first manga creators named to the Japan Art Academy. In 2024 he became the first manga artist to receive the Order of Culture, the same honor that, as we covered this month, Shigeru Miyamoto has now received as the first video game creator.
English-language readers only got an official translation of Ashita no Joe recently. Kodansha released it as Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow in December 2024, decades after the series became a classic in Japan. That release will likely be the starting point for a lot of new readers this week.
What we know vs what is rumored
- Confirmed: Chiba died on October 22 in a Tokyo hospital at age 87. Kodansha’s notice gives the time as 6 p.m.
- Confirmed: The cause was myelodysplastic syndrome, as reported by NHK, Jiji Press and Anime News Network.
- Confirmed: A private family funeral has taken place, and Kodansha is considering a public farewell event.
- Unconfirmed: the date, venue or format of any farewell gathering, and whether Hinemosu Notari Nikki will publish any remaining material.
What happens next
Kodansha says it will announce farewell gathering details once they are settled. The Japan Cartoonists Association posted its own notice on October 27 crediting him with raising the standing of manga and its creators, and more tributes are likely to follow. For readers who want to start with his work, the English edition of Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow is the obvious entry point, and the 1970 and 1980 anime adaptations and Megalobox show how far his boxer has traveled.
Sources: Kodansha — ちばてつやさん ご逝去のお知らせ (official notice); Anime News Network — Ashita no Joe Creator Tetsuya Chiba Dies at 87; Nippon.com (Jiji Press) — Japanese Manga Artist Tetsuya Chiba Dies at 87; Japan Cartoonists Association — 当協会 ちばてつや会長 逝去のお知らせ