-Manga Artist & Animator-

Osamu Tezuka, born on Nov. 3, 1928, made his debut in 1946 with his four-frame cartoon in the newspaper for kids.
In 1947, he released his first Story Manga titled "New Treasure Island".
Tezuka contributed to open the door to a new era of Manga and kept working as a leading figure in the postwar era.
Tezuka's works brought a great impact on younger cartoonists.

Tezuka also made a great achievement in the field of animation.
He established Mushi Production in 1962 and started broadcasting the first Japanese 30 min.
TV animation series, “Astro Boy” in 1963. In 1989, Tezuka ended his life at the age of sixty.
However, he drew about 150,000 sheets of manuscript, completed about 700 titles,
and created more than 1000 characters in his life.
He also produced about 60 animation works.

Thank you for your interest in Osamu Tezuka and his works.

Osamu Tezuka, who died on February 9, 1988, at an early age of sixty, always cared about children who would be responsible for the next generation, and called them “Future People”. He wrote manga and made animations desperately to convey children the preciousness of peace, the misery of war and the importance of life.

On the other hand, he was a man who cared about quality of his works. It was back in the 70’s. One publisher offered Tezuka to publish his work in the form of paperbacks. He first declined the offer since he was particular about the paper size. He said, “My works are designed only for B5 sized weekly magazines, not for any other size.”

Considering printing technologies then, he probably thought his fine hairlines would blur or frame layouts would lose effectiveness in smaller sized books. He, however, finally accepted the offer reluctantly only for his adult manga works drawn with simple lines, asked again and again from the publisher for years.

Today most of his works are available in the form of paperbacks printed beautifully just as the original manuscripts as well as in the form of e-books. There were no personal computers or smart phones in his days, and I wonder what methods he would come up with if he were here now. Indeed, it is quite exciting to imagine what great works he would create with today’s advanced technologies.

We believe we should take advantage of a variety of media surrounding us as well as convey the attraction of conventional media such as TV and paper books to the next generation though they are now on the wane, and consider what we can give to “Future People”.

We, Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd, will strive to provide opportunities so that many people can read, watch and encounter Tezuka’s works. Our goal is to convey the messages Tezuka continued to deliver through his career, which is “the importance of life”.

Takayuki Matsutani
President