Renowned Japanese manga artist, Tetsuya Chiba, widely recognised for the Ashita no Jeo series died of a rare bone marrow disorder in Tokyo.
Chiba was honoured with Japan’s highest civil award, the Order of Culture, died of myelodysplastic syndrome at a Tokyo hospital on Thursday, October 22, 2026, per Japan Times.
He was 87.
Chiba was born in Tokyo in 1939; as an infant, he was moved by his family to the Korean Peninsula and then to Japanese-controlled Manchuria in present-day northeastern China when he was 2.
While living in Manchuria, he experienced firsthand the account of World War II and survived the violence that followed.
He heads back to Japan in 1946.
He developed an interest in manga around that time and joined a manga publication before making his debut as a professional manga artist at age 17.
As a teenager, Chiba won a children’s manga award from publisher Kodansha Ltd. In 1962, a testament to the craftsmanship that would define his glorious career ahead.
He went on to release hits including Shiden-Kai no Taka, which highlights the struggles of a wartime pilot, as well as the sports manga Harris no Kaze, which was adapted into a blockbuster television anime series.
Chiba’s also produced other popular titles, including Notari Matsutaro, depicting the story of a professional sumo world, Ashita Tenki ni Naare, a golf manga series, and Ore wa Teppei, centred on the theme of Japanese martial art Kendo.
