Profile
CHIBA Tetsuya
Born on January 11th, 1939 in Tsukiji area of Tokyo.
At a very young age he was taken by his family as they went to find work in Korea and later on in Fengtian Manzhou (Shenyang Liaoning-sheng in China). His family was then forced only later to have to perilously journey back to Japan after wars end in 1945.
In 1950 he joined his friend in making "Manga Club", a amateur manga.
In 1956 he drew his first work as a professional cartoonist with 'Fukushu no Semushi,' [The Hunchback Avenger]. Later, in 1958, he started work on a weekly serial magazine with 'Mama no Baorin' [Mom's Violin]. Then in 1961he began work in a weekly boy's magazine with 'Chikai no Makyu' [The Promised Pitch].
He has been given the post of managing director of The Japan Cartoonist Association.
His accomplished career spans over 40 years .
He presently lives in Nerima in Tokyo, Japan.
Main Works
"Mama no Violin" [Mom's Violin] (1958)
"Rina" (1960)
"Chikai no Makyu" [The Promised Pitch] (1961)
"1, 2, 3 to 4, 5, Roku" [1, 2, 3 & 4, 5, Six] (1962)
"Hachinosu Taisho" [Dr.Hachinosu] (1963)
"Yuki no Taiyo" [Yuki's Sun] (1963)
"Shedenkai no Taka" [Falcon of Shidenkai] (1963)
"Shimakko" [Kids of the Isle] (1964)
"Harris no Kaze" [The Sensational Harris] (1965)
"Ashita no Joe" [Tomorrow's Joe] (1968)
"Gaki" [The Bottomless Pit] (1970)
"Hotaru Minako" [Minako] (1972)
"Orewa Teipei" [I AM Teppei] (1973)
"Notari Matsutaro" [Matsutaro] (1973)
"Nerima no Itachi" [Nerima's Weasels] (1980)
"Ashita Tenki ni Nare" [Stay Fine] (1981)
History
| 1962 | The 3rd. Kodansha Juvenile comics award | "1, 2, 3 & 4, 5, Six" |
| 1976 | The 7th. Kodansha Award for Publishing Culture |
"I AM Teppei" |
| 1977 | The 6th. Japan Cartoonist Award -Special Award- |
"Matsutaro" |
| 1978 | The 23th. Shogakukan Comic Award | "Matsutaro" |
| 2001 | Award from Ministry of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology. |
For all of his works which gave vitality and spirits for youth. |
| 2002 | The Purple Ribbon Medal | -- |
| 1939 | Jan 11th. | Chiba Tetsuya was born Jan. 11th at the Seiroka Hospital in the old downtown area of Tsukiji,Tokyo.He was the oldest of 4 sons of Masaya and Shizuko Chiba. |
| Nov. | While he was still less than a year old his family moved to Seoul (then known as Keijo) for work. | |
| 1941 | Jan. | Later his family moved once again for work to Feng Tian in what was then called Manchuria (present day Shenyang, Liaoning Province in China.) |
| 1945 | Apr. | And it was here where Tetsuya entered school for the first time in the Tetsunishi Elementary School. At around the same time his father was conscripted into the Japanese army in what turned out to be the last days of the war. |
| Jul | His father is released from the army. | |
| Aug. 15th. | The war ends abruptly and the repatriation of Japanese citizens begins in earnest. Due to the instability at the time this exodus takes the form of a perilous escape. | |
| 1946 | Jul. | Unlike many others who perish along the way, the family is finally able, after a bitter journey, to get to Kolo harbor and on a boat back to Japan. |
| Jul 21st. | They arrive in Hakata, Kyushu and take the last leg of a long journey back to his father's home in Iioka, Chiba. | |
| Aug | Tetsuya almost drowns while being taught how to swim by his father in the ocean near Iioka. | |
| Sep. | He gets transferred to Iioka Elementary School second grade. | |
| 1947 | Aug. | His family moves again to Koumecho, Sumida Ward, Tokyo not far from where he was born. |
| Sep. | He changes schools yet again. This time starting in 3rd grade in Koume Elementary. | |
| 1950 | -- | He joins up with a friend to make 'Manga Club', an amateur manga magazine. |
| 1951 | Apr. | He enters Nichidai Junior High School. |
| 1954 | Apr. | He moves up to Nichidai High School after graduating from the junior high. |
| 1955 | Feb. | His father gets an injury which takes over 3 months to recover. At which time Tetsuya tries to help out by getting a part-time job. Unfortunately the door to door sales proved to difficult in the economic climate at the time and he quit without having made one sale. |
| 1956 | May 25th. | This was the day Tetsuya took his first big step at being a pofessional manga artist. He went to Nisshokan, a publishing company in Kanda, Tokyo, to look for work- any work - though he did bring some of his drafts just in case Unexpectedly his drafts were accepted and he was taken under the wing of the president and instucted on everything needed to make a comic but more importantly he was given his first comic to draw, 'Fukushu no Semushi,' (The Hunchback Avenger). |
| 1958 | Mar. | He begins work on 'Butohkai no Shojo' (The Maiden Ball) his first serial work for a magazine. |
| 1959 | May | He moves to Eidai-cho from Koume-cho. |
| 1961 | Jan | He starts work on his first magazine serial for boys called 'Chikai no Makyu' (The Promised Pitch) |
| -- | At the same time he organizes the amateur baseball team, The Whiters. Unfortunately starting a trend that continues to this day by losing the inagral game 8-2 against the Mushi Production team. | |
| 1962 | Aug. | He moves to Fujimidai, Nerima Ward where he continues to live and work. |
| -- | He receives a Kodansha award in the young person section for his manga '1,2,3 and 4,5,six'. | |
| 1965 | Feb. | He get married to the beautiful and energetic Yukiko. |
| 1966 | May | His first televised work 'Harisu no Kaze' (Harris' Sensation) is broadcast |
| Sep. | His own production company the aptly named 'Chiba Tetsuya Production' is established. | |
| 1968 | Jun. | And in June of the same year takes his first trip for pleasure to a foreign country by going to Hawaii. |
| 1970 | Mar. 24th | This is the day, due to the popularity of Tetsuya Chiba's manga at the time, when the fans perform a funeral ceremony for the character Toru Rikiish who died in his manga 'Ashita no Joe' (Tomorrow's Joe). More than 700 people are in attendance. |
| 1971 | -- | Tetsuya is admitted to the hospital for two weeks due to stomach ulcers caused by overwork but recovers to continue working. |
| 1975 | May | He is given the post of Managing Director of the Japan Cartoonists Association. |
| 1976 | -- | He receives a Kodansha Publishing Award for 'Orewa Teppei' (I am Teppei) in the juvenile comic section. |
| 1977 | -- | He receives The Japan Cartoonist Award's special award for his manga, 'Matsutaro' |
| 1978 | Mar. 3rd | He receives another award, the Shogakukan Comic Award, for 'Matsutaro'. |
| 1979 | Sep. | He goes traveling to the Amazon and Peru with his friends, Reiji Matsumoto, Moto Hagio and others. |
| 1980 | Mar | The 'Chiba Kikaku', a planning company, is established. |
| 1986 | -- | He starts up playing tennis for the first time. |
| 1987 | -- | His addiction to the sport grows when he buys a tennis racket during his trip to America. |
| 1994 - 1995 |
-- | He takes his first and long overdue extended break from the high pressure and relentless pace of producing serial comics. |
| 2001 | -- | He receives the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award.
And in thesame year he is given the responsibility of executive manager of the 5th Asian Manga Summit. |
| 2002 | -- | He receives the Purple Ribbon Medal for which he and the other recipients are given an audience with the emperor. |
