Legendary Manga Artist Has Passed Away
Tetsuya Chiba passed away at the age of 87, living an incredible life and illustrating masterpieces that continue to influence artists to this day.
On October 22, 2026, Tetsuya Chiba, the illustrator for the iconic Ashita no Joe manga passed away at the age of 87 due to myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a type of bone marrow cancer.
Noted as “the biggest contributor to the rise of sports manga”, Chiba is responsible for the art behind the iconic boxing manga, Ashita no Joe, as well as writing and illustrating his own sumo manga, Notari Matsutarō (1973-1998).
Although born on January 11, 1939, in Tokyo, Japan, he actually spent much of his early childhood in China during World War II.
Tetsuya’s three brothers, Ken, Akio, and Shigeyuki. Akio and Shigeyuki (using the pen name Taro Nami), are also manga artists.
Alongside winning the Kodansha Children’s Comic Award in 1962 and later the Kodansha Culture Award in 1976, he received other acclaims, including the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2002 for his artistic accomplishments, a distinction earned by his contemporaries, including Akira mangaka Katsuhiro Otomo (2013), who saw Chiba as an even bigger influence in his work than the likes of Osamu Tezuka due to his paneling and visual framing in action scenes that made it easier to view the action scenes.
His illustrated works include:
- Chikai no Makyū (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Kodansha, January 1961 to December 1962, created by Kazuya Fukumoto)
- 1•2•3 to 4•5•Roku (Shōjo Club, Kodansha, January to December 1962)
- Shidenkai no Taka (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, July 1963–January 1965)
- Harris no Kaze (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Apr 1965-Nov 1967)
- Misokkasu (Shōjo Friend, Kodansha, August 1966–August 1967)
- Ashita no Joe (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, January 1968–June 1973, written by Asao Takamori)
- Akane-chan (Shōjo Friend, April 6, 1968–September 29, 1968)
- Kaze no Yō ni (Shojo Friend, 1969)
- Hotaru Minako (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, September 1972)
- Ore wa Teppei (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, August 1973–April 1980)
- Notari Matsutarō (Big Comic, Shogakukan, August 1973–June 1993 and October 1995–May 1998)
- Ashita Tenki ni Naare (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, January 1981–May 1991)
- Otokotachi (Comic Morning, September 1982–July 1983)[21]
- Shōnen yo Raketto wo Idake (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, May 1992–June 1994)
- Hinemosu Notari Nikki (Shogakukan, Big Comic, December 2015–September 2026)
Source: Twitter
Tetsuya Chiba, artist of Ashita no Joe, has sadly passed away at the age of 87 on October 22nd, 2026.
Among all his masterful works, Chiba appeared in the early pages of Weekly Shonen Jump with ‘Mosa’, a short serialization back in 1969.
https://t.co/u3tZ7Pj7VU https://t.co/Yx7gTLkC05
— Shonen Jump News (@WSJ_manga) October 27, 2026
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