Mangaka profile (1): Tetsuya Chiba

• Name: Tetsuya Chiba
• In Japanese: ちばてつや
• Born when: January 11th, 1939 (71 years old at the time of the interview)
• Born where: Tsukiji, Tokyo
• Debut: 1956 (17 years old), with Fukushū no semushi otoko (The vengeful hunchback).
• Main works: Ashita no Joe (with Asao Takamori), Notari Matsutarō, Ichi Ni San to Shi Go Roku, Harris no kaze, Shidenkai no Taka, Chikai no makyū (with Kazuya Fukumoto), Ore wa Teppei, Ashita tenki ni naare…
• Awards: 3rd Kōdansha Children’s Manga Award (for Ichi Ni San to Shi Go Roku), 7th Kōdansha Cultural Publishing Award – Children’s Manga Category (for Ore wa Teppei), 23rd Shōgakukan Manga Award – General Category (for Notari Matsutarō), 6th Special Award of the Japan Cartoonists Association (for Notari Matsutarō), Award of the Ministry of Culture and Science, Medal With Purple Ribbon Decoration, Special Award for the 100th Anniversary of Kōdansha – 33rd Kōdansha Manga Award.

Facts:

• He was raised in occupied Manchuria. He and his family could only return to Japan after it had lost the war.

• Two of his three little brothers are also very well known in the manga industry. Akio Chiba (1943-1984), was a famous mangaka who created Captain and Playball (both serialized in Shōnen Jump), among other works. Tarō Nami (real name: Shigeyuki Chiba, 1944), is a manga script writer.

• As many mangaka of his generation, he made his debut in the kashihon (rental book) industry. A lot of rental book shops opened in Japan in the second half of the 1950s; they provided entertainment at affordable rates,  and they favoured the creation of many little publishing houses. Since manga was a big part of the rental book business, these publishing houses, who worked exclusively for the kashihon’ya (rental book shops), started searching for young talent to “feed” the needs of their clients, providing great opportunities for aspiring mangaka to get published. I’ll write more about kashihon’ya in other posts.

• During his first years as a mangaka, Chiba created shōjo manga and was the first manga artist to sign an exclusivity contract with a publishing house. This publishing house was Kōdansha, and the contract was made by editor Akira Maruyama (also interviewed in this Masters of Manga project) because he wanted Chiba to focus mainly on the works he was doing for his magazine Shōjo Club.

• Chiba was badly hurt once and the Tokiwa-sō apartments members Shōtarō Ishinomori and Fujio Akatsuka, among others, helped him finish the installment he was working on at the time.

• He is most famous for having created the boxing manga legend Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow’s Joe, 1968-73)) along with script writer Asao Takamori (an alias of Ikki Kajiwara), although he has many other famous works:

• Ichi Ni San to Shi Go Roku (One Two Three and Four Five Six, 1962). One of his better known shōjo manga, is a warm comedy that features the story of five children who have lost their mother and the dog Roku (six).

• Chikai no makyū (The Promised Pitch, with Kazuya Fukumoto, 1961-62). The first baseball manga to feature “magic” shots and techniques.

• Shidenkai no Taka (Taka of the Shiden-Kai, 1963-65). The story of a pilot of a Shiden-Kai –Kawanishi N1K-J Modified– during the war.

• Harris no kaze (The whirlwind of the Harris, 1965-67). His first really big hit. It featured the adventures of a misfit in the Harris School. The first manga to have a non-hero main character rather that a handsome, strong hero, a trait that would become later a constant of shōnen manga.

• Notari Matsutarō (Laid-back Matsutarō, 1973-93, 1995-98). The most famous manga featuring sumo there is. Chiba is still publishing new episodes from time to time.

• Ore wa Teppei (I am Teppei, 1973-80). A kind of remake of Harris no kaze.

• Ashita tenki ni naare (I wish we have good weather tomorrow, 1981-91). One of the better known golf manga.

As you can see, Tetsuya Chiba is a huge MASTER OF MANGA!!!!

In the interview for Masters of Manga, Tetsuya Chiba talked a lot about his career as a mangaka and explained some interesting episodes of his life. We’ll see clips of this interview over the next few months.

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