Image via Amazon ©Tetsuya Chiba, Shogakukan
Gagyō 70-shūnen Ai to Heiwa to Chiba Tetsuya
'smagazine confirmed on Friday that the eighth compiled book volume of the late 'smanga will be the final volume when it ships on February 12.will also publish(70th Anniversary as an Working Artist: Love, Peace, and), a commemorative book tracing Chiba's 70 years as a manga artist, on February 12.
Chiba launched the Hinemosu Notari Nikki autobiographical short essay manga in Big Comic in December 2015. Shogakukan published the manga's first compiled book volume in 2018, and the seventh volume in November 2025. Chiba put the manga on hiatus on September 25, citing poor health. Chiba died on October 22 due to a myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of cancer that affects the blood cells in the bone marrow.
Chiba debuted as a professional manga creator when he was still in high school at 17 years old in 1956. He is perhaps best known for his Ashita no Joe ( Tomorrow's Joe ) boxing manga, which ran from 1968 to 1973, and has remained a mainstay in Japanese popular culture for decades. The manga inspired two television anime in 1970 and 1980, as well as two anime films in 1980 and 1981. The manga's story was re-imagined in a new sci-fi setting with new characters in 2018's Megalobox anime, which credits the original manga as its origin. The sequel series for Megalobox , Megalobox 2: Nomad , premiered in April 2021.
Ashita no Joe received its first official English release under the title Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow in December 2024.
Chiba was nominated to the Japan Art Academy in 2022 as one of its first two manga creators (along with Yoshiharu Tsuge ). He was also the chair of the Japan Cartoonists Association.
Chiba was honored with the prestigious Order of Culture award in 2024, and was the first manga creator to have received the honor. The order is awarded to those "who have made outstanding contributions in developing" Japanese culture.