is a Japanese

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...

from

Katsushika, Tokyo is a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan. The ward calls itself Katsushika City in English. As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 444,356, and a population density of 12,770 people per km². The total area is 34.80 ...

. He is best known for his long-running

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

series '' KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops'', which was continuously published in ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...

'' for 40 years from 1976 to 2016. With 1,960 chapters collected into 201 ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes, it held the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for "Most volumes published for a single manga series" from September 2016 to July 2021. The series has sold over 155 million copies, making it one of the

best-selling manga series The following is a list of the best-selling Japanese manga series to date in terms of the number of collected ''tankōbon'' volumes sold. All series in this list have at least 20 million copies in circulation. This list is limited to Japanese ...

in history. Akimoto has been creating the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

series ''

Black Tiger A black tiger is a rare colour variant of the tiger, and is not a distinct species or geographic subspecies. Description There are reports and one painting (now lost) of pure black non-striped tigers (true melanistic tigers). Most black mammal ...

'' since 2017.

Career

Before becoming a professional manga artist, Akimoto worked at the animation studio

Tatsunoko Production and often shortened to , is a Japanese animation company. The studio's name has a double meaning in Japanese: "Tatsu's child" (Tatsu is a nickname for Tatsuo) and " sea dragon", the inspiration for its seahorse logo. Tatsunoko's headquarters are ...

on series such as ''

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman is a Japanese animated franchise about a five-member superhero ninja team created by Tatsuo Yoshida and produced by Tatsunoko Productions. The original anime series, which debuted in 1972, was eponymously entitled ''Kagaku Ninja-tai Gatchaman ...

''. Akimoto made his manga debut with '' KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops'' (often shortened to ''Kochikame'') under the pen name of in 1976. He changed to using his real name in 1978, after the series reached its 100th chapter. The manga was continuously serialized in ''

'' for 40 years from 1976 to 2016 and has sold over 155 million copies, making it one of the

in history. On December 31, 2016,

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

reprinted the ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' issue that included the final chapter of ''Kochikame'', marking the first time the magazine has ever been reprinted. ''Kochikame'' has spawned a large media franchise that includes adaptations both animated and live-action; an anime television series, several animated films, a live-action film, live-action TV drama, and stage adaptations. In 1985, Akimoto started the action comedy series '' Mr. Clice'', which follows the Japanese

secret agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

Jin Clice, who has the body of a woman but the mind of a man. It was originally serialized in ''

Monthly Shōnen Jump was a shōnen manga magazine which was published monthly in Japan by Shueisha from 1970 to 2007 under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. It was the sister magazine to ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. History The ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'' magazine started ...

'' from 1985 to 2007, before being revived in ''

Jump SQ. , also written as , is a Japanese monthly ''shōnen manga, shōnen'' Manga#Magazines, manga magazine. Published by Shueisha, the magazine premiered on November 2, 2007 as a replacement for ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'', another manga anthology that Shu ...

'' in 2017 and transferring to ''Jump SQ. Rise'' in 2018. In November 2010, Akimoto was one of several manga artists that held a press conference in opposition to

Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youths The is a prefectural law passed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on August 1, 1964. Its purpose is to promote the healthy development of people under the age of 18 by restricting their access to published material that is considered inappro ...

Bill 156 The is a prefectural law passed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on August 1, 1964. Its purpose is to promote the healthy development of people under the age of 18 by restricting their access to published material that is considered inappro ...

. In February 2014, he drew the one-shot "Vocalo" which is set 50 years after the rise of

Vocaloid is a singing voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project led by Kenmochi Hideki at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain, in 2000 and was not originally intended to b ...

technology and ran in the

shōjo manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent females and young adult women. It is, along with manga (targeting adolescent boys), manga (targeting young adult and adult men), and manga (targeting adul ...

magazine ''

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

''. The following year, ''

Grand Jump is a Japanese semi-monthly seinen manga magazine published by Shueisha under their ''Jump'' line of magazines. Launched in November 2011 as a merging of ''Business Jump'' and '' Super Jump'', it carried over nine series from the former and thre ...

'' published his "Allie, Shoot Your Gun"

one-shot in January 2015. In addition to resuming ''Mr. Clice'', Akimoto launched three new manga series in three different Shueisha magazines in 2017. The Western ''

'' has been serialized in ''Grand Jump'' since the second issue of 2017, which was released in December 2016. '' Finder: Kyoto Jogakuin Monogatari'' was serialized in ''

Weekly Young Jump is a Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shueisha. Launched in 1979, it is published under Shueisha's ''Jump'' line of magazines. The chapters of series that run in ''Weekly Young Jump'' are collected and published in ''tankōbon'' v ...

'' from February 2017 until March 2018. It follows a group of four girls at an all-female high school in

Kameoka, Kyoto is a city in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 87,518 in 29,676 households and a population density of 390 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Kameoka abuts Kyoto to the east and is loca ...

. A "sequel" to ''Kochikame'', '' Ii Yu da ne!'' ran in ''

Ultra Jump is a Japanese monthly seinen manga magazine published by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. Originally, the magazine was a special issue of ''Weekly Young Jump'' which was first issued in 1995. On October 19, 1999, the special issue beca ...

'' from March 2017 to June 2019. Set in a bathhouse in

Shitamachi and are traditional names for two areas of Tokyo, Japan. Yamanote refers to the affluent, upper-class areas of Tokyo west of the Imperial Palace.Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version While citizens once considered it as ...

, Gorō Kuma and his grandson are deeply moved when the Brazilian wife of Kuma's son arrives to save the bathhouse from having to close. In 2019, Akimoto published ''Akimoto Osamu no Shigoto-jutsu'', an instructional book that explains how he used schedule management to serialize a successful manga for 40 years.

Awards and accolades

In 2005, ''Kochikame'' was one of two winners of the Special Judges Award at the 50th

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan, Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being ...

s in 2005. With 200 ''

'' volumes, Akimoto and ''Kochikame'' held the

for "Most volumes published for a single manga series" from September 2016 to July 2021. Also in 2016, Akimoto received the 64th

Kikuchi Kan Prize The honors achievement in all aspects of Japanese literary culture. It was named in honor of Kikuchi Kan. The prize is presented annually by the literary magazine ''Bungei Shunjū'' and the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature. Histor ...

for creating ''Kochikame'' for 40 years without breaks. The following year, he received the Special Prize at the 21st

Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Named after Osamu Tezuka, the is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. The prize has been awarded since 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Current ...

for the series, and the

Seiun Award The is a Japanese speculative fiction award given each year for the best science fiction works and achievements during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by , the awards are given at the annual Nihon SF Taikai, Japan Science Fict ...

for Best Comic. In 2019, the Japanese government gave Akimoto the

Medal with Purple Ribbon are medals awarded by the Government of Japan. They are awarded to individuals who have done meritorious deeds and also to those who have achieved excellence in their field of work. The Medals of Honor were established on December 7, 1881, and we ...

for his contributions to the arts.

Works

* * '' Mr. Clice'' (1985–2007, 2017–present, serialized in ''

'', ''

'' and ''Jump SQ. Rise'') * * "Vocalo" (2014, published in ''

'') * * ''

'' (2016–present, serialized in ''Grand Jump'') * *

Assistants

Hiroshi Aro , better known by his pen name , is a Japanese manga artist. He is mostly known for being the author of '' Futaba-Kun Change!'', ''Morumo 1/10'' and ''Yuu and Mii''. Aro worked as an assistant to manga artist Osamu Akimoto. He admitted that ''Futa ...

*Naoki Azuma *Yoshihiro Kuroiwa *

Usune Masatoshi is a Japanese manga artist. Works * ''Killer Boy'' (1985) * ''Metal Box'' (1989) * ''Eater'' (1991) * ''Desert Punk is a Japanese post-apocalyptic manga series written and illustrated by Masatoshi Usune, serialized in Enterbrain's ''Comi ...

*Shōgo Sakamoto *Chinatsu Tomizawa

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akimoto, Osamu 1952 births Living people Manga artists from Tokyo Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo Winner of Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (Special Award) Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon