Ashita no Joe creator Tetsuya Chiba dies aged 87
The creator of Ashita no Joe and a towering figure in manga history has died after a career spanning seven decades.
Manga artist Tetsuya Chiba, best known internationally as the creator of Ashita no Joe, has died aged 87. NHK reports that Chiba died in a Tokyo hospital on 22 October from myelodysplastic syndrome, with the news published on 27 October.1
Chiba was born in Tokyo in 1939 and made his manga debut in 1956. Across a career spanning seven decades, he created or worked on several major series, including Ashita no Joe, Notari Matsutaro, Ashita Tenki ni Naare and Shidenkai no Taka.12
Ashita no Joe, written by Asao Takamori, ran in Weekly Shonen Magazine from 1968 to 1973. The boxing manga became a landmark of post-war Japanese popular culture and helped establish the influence that sports manga would later have around the world. Its impact extends beyond the original comic, with anime adaptations introducing Joe Yabuki’s story to generations of viewers.1
Chiba also spent much of his later life documenting and discussing his wartime experiences. His autobiographical manga Hinemosu Notari Nikki began publication in Big Comic in December 2015, but went on hiatus in September 2026 as his health worsened.2
His contribution to Japanese culture was formally recognised with the Order of Culture in 2024. NHK’s report also notes that Chiba served as president of the Japan Cartoonists Association, adding a significant institutional role to his work as a creator.1
Our opinion
Chiba’s death closes one of the defining chapters in modern manga history, but Ashita no Joe remains more than a celebrated back catalogue title. Its combination of sporting ambition, social pressure and bruising personal drama helped show how manga could carry the emotional weight of a serious novel. Chiba’s wider career matters for the same reason: he treated popular comics as a way to preserve memory, examine society and reach readers at enormous scale.
A private funeral was held by his family. Chiba is survived by a body of work that continues to shape manga and anime, with Ashita no Joe standing as its most widely recognised legacy.