BIG IN JAPAN
Tezuka Osamu
 |
Courtesy
of
Kyodo Photo Service |
He drew about 150,000 pages
of comics during his life, and over 100 of his works were made into animated movies. He is
credited with originating the manga business and giving it the impetus required to become
one of Japan' premier industries. His name is Osamu Tezuka, but he is known to his fans
as "Manga no Kamisama" the God of Comics.
Born in Toyonaka, Hyogo-ken, in 1928, as a child Tezuka was inspired by the Disney movies
released in Japan, and claimed that he lost count of the number of times he had seen each
one. His attention to detail led him to develop the cinematic style that stunned his first
readers and made editors clamor for more. In his comics, the panels helped the action flow
across the page, instead of breaking it up. His style became the industry standard, and is
followed today not just in Japan but also by graphic artists around the world.
His aspirations led him to Tokyo, where he holed up in a cheap apartment building in
Tokiwaso, which became a thriving arts-lab community as more budding artists gravitated to
it. His best-known early work was Tetsuwan Atomu (Atom with Iron Arms), the
adventures of a robot boy and his creator, Dr Ochanomizu. This was the first manga to be
adapted as an animated TV series in Japan, and was exported as AstroBoy.
In 1961 he set up an independent film company called Mushi Productions to produce the Tetsuwan
Atomu series, and his parents moved into his new house in Nerima ward. An intensely
close-knit family, even by Japanese standards, there was almost constant conflict between
Tezuka's mother and his wife, Etsuko. Work schedules also made his home a turbulent one.
Manga artists are notoriously overworked but Tezuka was taking it to extremes, claiming to
sleep as little as two hours a night, spending the rest of the day at the drawing board.
Despite severe cost-cutting, the TV network's budget restrictions on the Tetsuwan Atomu
show were crippling the company and in 1973 Mushi-Pro went bankrupt. His fortunes were
revived by the massive success of the animated movie Hi no Tori (Fire Bird 2772),
and the 80s saw both critical and financial success - with Tezuka's wife, children and his
beloved parents at last able to share in the rewards of his efforts.
His work spanned all genres of manga - salaryman comics, sports comics, SF comics. He even
spawned the hugely successful sho-jo manga (girls' comics) category, putting it on the map
with Ribbon No Kishi (The Blue Ribbon). He later explained that the dreamlike
quality of the artwork on this title (now standard practice in girls' comics) was a result
of his boyhood home's proximity to Takarazuka, where the spectacular all-women's theatre
group is based. In later years, he tackled weighty philosophical issues in his work, such
as the life of Buddha and the experiences of Jewish children in Nazi Germany.
His workaholic lifestyle may have led to his early demise, in 1989, at the age of 60. By
then he had accumulated shelves full of artistic awards, and the adoration of the entire
country. His grinning face, with his trademark heavy-rimmed glasses and beret, is one of
Japan's icons of the 20th century.
John Paul Catton |
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