2 sources 4h ago
Ashita no Joe Creator Tetsuya Chiba Dies at 87
Tetsuya Chiba died in a Tokyo hospital on October 22 of myelodysplastic syndrome, a cancer that affects blood cells in the bone marrow. He was 87.
Reporting from 2 sources: Anime News Network, Animehunch.
Why it matters
Ashita no Joe ended in 1973, but the works it produced run through Megalobox 2: Nomad in April 2021 and an official English edition in December 2024, which is where Chiba's influence actually sits.
Key Facts
- Tetsuya Chiba died in a Tokyo hospital on October 22 of myelodysplastic syndrome at age 87.
- Chiba's Ashita no Joe ran from 1968 to 1973 and led to two television anime and two anime films.
- Megalobox, a reworking of Ashita no Joe with new characters, aired in 2018, and Megalobox 2: Nomad premiered in April 2021.
- Chiba received the Order of Culture in 2024 and was named to the Japan Art Academy in 2022.
- Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow, the manga's first official English release, arrived in December 2024.
Chiba's Ashita no Joe ran from 1968 to 1973, leading to two television anime and two anime films, and its story was reworked for Megalobox in 2018. His autobiographical manga Hinemosu Notari Nikki went on hiatus on September 25 because of poor health.
Tetsuya Chiba was born in Tokyo and spent his early childhood in what is now northern China. He was 17, still in high school, when he debuted as a professional manga creator in 1956.
Chiba had surgery to place a stent in a coronary artery in January 2022 and wrote on his blog in 2024 that he had eye surgery. In November 2021 he said he had admitted himself to a Tokyo hospital and was treated for a tumor in his throat. He put Hinemosu Notari Nikki, which began in Big Comic in December 2015, on hiatus on September 25.
Japan named him to the Japan Art Academy in 2022. He received the Order of Culture in 2024 and chaired the Japan Cartoonists Association.
Written with AI by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited. See our editorial policy.
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