Osamu Tezuka

Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator. He is often called "the Father of Manga" because of his huge impact on comics in Japan. Tezuka was inspired by early animated films and began changing manga with his first big hit, New Treasure Island, in 1947.

He created many famous series, including Astro Boy, Princess Knight, and Kimba the White Lion for children, as well as grown-up stories like Black Jack, Phoenix, and Buddha. These works won many awards and are still loved today.

Tezuka passed away from stomach cancer in 1989, and his loss was felt deeply by fans and fellow artists. A museum in Takarazuka was built to honor his life and work, and he continues to be remembered for his creative spirit and lasting influence.

Biography

Early life (1928–1945)

Osamu Tezuka was born in Toyonaka, Osaka, as the eldest of three children. His family was well-educated and prosperous. His father worked in management, and his ancestors were lawyers and doctors. His mother inspired him with stories and took him to the Takarazuka Grand Theater, which featured the Takarazuka Revue—an all-female musical theater group. This experience greatly influenced his later works and art style.

As a child, Tezuka watched Walt Disney films and became a big fan, especially loving Bambi. He started drawing comics in elementary school, inspired by Disney and other artists like Suihō Tagawa and Unno Juza. During World War II, he worked in a factory but kept creating manga. He later studied medicine at Osaka University while beginning to publish his first professional works.

Early success (1946–1951)

Tezuka began using manga to help teach and inspire others. At 17, he published his first professional work, Diary of Ma-chan. His big break came with Shin Takarajima (New Treasure Island), based loosely on Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. This manga became very popular and started a new era for manga.

Tezuka created famous works like Lost World, Metropolis, and Nextworld. He also contributed to the magazine Manga Shōnen and wrote Kimba the White Lion, which became very popular. In 1951, he graduated from medical school and introduced the Astro Boy character in Ambassador Atom.

Astro Boy, national fame and early animation (1952–1960)

In 1952, Tezuka introduced Astro Boy, a robot with human emotions, in Tetsuwan Atom. The series became a huge hit in Japan. Tezuka also published Ribon no Kishi (Princess Knight) and began work on Phoenix, which he considered his life's work.

Production career (1959–1989)

Tezuka's first animated film was Saiyuki, produced by Toei Animation. Later, he founded Mushi Productions to create anime. His biggest success was Astro Boy, which became the first Japanese animation to be dubbed in English and helped start the anime industry in Japan.

Gekiga graphic novels (1967–1989)

In the late 1960s, Tezuka began creating more serious and realistic stories for older readers. He started the magazine COM and produced works like Dororo and Phoenix. He also created famous series such as Black Jack and Buddha.

Death

Tezuka passed away from stomach cancer on 9 February 1989 in Tokyo. Even on his last day, he asked to keep working on his art.

Style

Osamu Tezuka was known for his imaginative stories and unique style. He often used ideas from Western books and movies in his work. One big influence was a book he read as a child called He Done Her Wrong, which helped shape how many manga artists draw their stories today.

Tezuka loved to include quotes and ideas from popular culture in his stories. He would bring together many different sights in one picture, much like movies do. His famous story Metropolis shows this well, with scenes that move and change like in a film. He also liked to mix serious moments with funny ones to keep things interesting.

Tezuka also created characters that appeared in many different stories, much like actors play many roles. He drew characters with big eyes, inspired by famous cartoon characters and movies. His style changed over time but always kept readers interested with new, exciting tales.

Works

Osamu Tezuka created over 700 volumes of stories, with more than 150,000 pages in total. Some of his most famous works include Astro Boy, a story about a peaceful robot boy; Kimba the White Lion, an adventure of a young lion; and Princess Knight, which features a brave heroine. Another major work is Phoenix, a long story about life and death that Tezuka worked on from the 1950s until his passing.

Tezuka also led Mushi Production, a studio that helped start television animation in Japan. His stories have been turned into many anime shows and films, and they remain popular around the world.

Personal life

Osamu Tezuka was a descendant of Hattori Hanzō, a famous ninja and samurai who served Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Sengoku period in Japan.

As a child, Tezuka faced health issues but was helped by a doctor, which inspired him to consider becoming a doctor himself. However, his mother encouraged him to pursue what he loved most, so he chose to focus on creating manga full-time. He later graduated from Osaka University and earned a medical degree, using that knowledge to enhance his science fiction stories, like Black Jack.

Tezuka enjoyed collecting insects and studying them, even including a bug character in his name. He loved Disney, baseball, and Superman. He married Etsuko Okada in 1959 and later met Walt Disney at the 1964 New York World's Fair. He also received an invitation from film director Stanley Kubrick to work on 2001: A Space Odyssey, but couldn’t accept due to his busy schedule. His son, Makoto Tezuka, became a film and anime director.

Legacy and influence

Stamps were issued in honor of Tezuka in 1997. Starting in 2003, the Japanese toy company Kaiyodo began making figurines of Tezuka’s characters, such as Princess Knight, Unico, and the Phoenix.

Tezuka inspired many famous manga artists and animators, including Shotaro Ishinomori, Go Nagai, and Hayao Miyazaki. His work also influenced people outside Japan, like American cartoonist Will Eisner and film director Akira Kurosawa.

In 2019, a project used computer technology to create new stories in Tezuka’s style. The first of these stories, called Phaedo, was published in 2020.