The disappearance of the mangaka Fujiko Fujio A leaves orphans characters who have marked Japanese youth since the end of the 1960s. The author of the immense successes Ninja Hattori-kun (“The Hattori-kun Ninja”) or even Kaibutsu-kun and of warau serusuman (“The Laughing Commercial”), died Thursday, April 7 at his home in Kawasaki, near Tokyo, at the age of 88.
His real name Motoo Abiko, Fujiko Fujio A was born on March 10, 1934 in Himi, a small port in the department of Toyama, in central Japan. He is the eldest son of the superior of a temple of Zen Buddhism, whose family left after the death of his father. He was in primary school then. “It was the death of my father that changed my life the most. If he hadn’t died, I think I would have become a monk.”he said daily asahi in 2020.
The orientation towards the profession of mangaka stems from his meeting on the school benches with Hiroshi Fujimoto (1933-1996). Influenced by the works of Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989), notably Shin Takarajima (“The New Treasure Island”, inspired by the work of Robert-Louis Stevenson), the two accomplices obtain their first publication in the newspaper Mainichi school children, while they are still high school students. After high school, they continue their activities while working. Motoo Abiko gets a job at Toyama Diarythe local daily.
mischievous ghost
Ultimately choosing to fully commit to manga, the duo moved to Tokyo in 1954 and took the name Fujiko Fujio. The two authors are among the young artists housed in one of the rooms of Tokiwa-so, a small wooden building that resisted the bombardments of the capital during the Second World War. Accommodation without bathroom, with collective toilets, is offered to the two friends by Osamu Tezuka, who had been able to appreciate one of their first works a few years earlier, Ben Hur. The building then housed a slew of young mangakas. With authors like Hiroo Terada, creator of several series around sport, they form the “Party of the new manga” which aims to create the “ideal manga”.
The duo enjoyed success with their “Obake no Q-taro” series, recounting the pranks of a mischievous ghost. Working together or alone, the two are essential in manga and animation. Motoo Abiko becomes a familiar face on television, where he appears wearing sunglasses permanently worn, the reflection of the light on the white paper having damaged his sight.
Famous blue cat-robot “Doraemon”
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