Tetsuya Chiba, the manga artist behind the classic boxing series Ashita no Joe, has died at the age of 87. His death on October 22 was confirmed by the official Weekly Shonen Magazine account and reported by Japanese outlets including Livedoor News on October 27.
Chiba spent decades working with Weekly Shonen Magazine, where he created Ashita no Joe, Ore wa Tetsuhei, and Ashita Tenki ni Naare. He was honored with Japan’s Order of Culture, one of the country’s highest artistic distinctions, in recognition of his contribution to manga.
News of his passing prompted a lengthy tribute from George Morikawa (森川ジョージ), the author of the long-running boxing manga Hajime no Ippo, who also serializes in Weekly Shonen Magazine. In a post on X, Morikawa described how close he came to giving up on manga entirely before Hajime no Ippo ever began.
At 22, Morikawa had already had three previous series cancelled. His editor urged him to treat one more pitch as his “last chance.” While waiting outside a frosted-glass meeting room for a verdict, he overheard an editor remark, “Just seeing the name Morikawa George makes me not want to read it.” Devastated, he rewrote 60 pages from scratch, unable to stop silently asking Chiba, the artist he idolized, “What does it feel like to be good at manga?” With no answer coming, he wrote the question itself into his manuscript, reshaping it into the line, “What does it feel like to be strong?” Soon after, the series was approved — it became Hajime no Ippo.
Morikawa said he had wanted to ask Chiba that question directly for years, but once the two grew close, he found himself too embarrassed to bring it up, despite having many chances. “Hajime no Ippo was my first step as a manga artist, and the beginning of an endless conversation with that person,” he wrote, closing his tribute with one final, unanswered question: “Chiba-san, what does it feel like to be good at manga?”
Who are Tetsuya Chiba and George Morikawa?
Tetsuya Chiba debuted as a manga artist in 1956 and became one of the most influential figures in Japanese sports manga after Ashita no Joe began serialization in Weekly Shonen Magazine in 1967. The story of boxer Joe Yabuki and his rival Toru Rikiishi is considered a foundational work of the genre and has been adapted into multiple anime series and films. George Morikawa has written Hajime no Ippo since 1989; the series follows boxer Ippo Makunouchi and remains one of Japan’s longest-running boxing manga, with well over 140 collected volumes.
Author’s Comment
I wasn’t expecting a thread about a 60-page manuscript rewrite to wreck me, but here we are. Everyone loves to talk about genius like it arrives fully formed, and nobody wants to admit that half the greats in this industry were one bad hallway comment away from quitting for good. What gets me is that Morikawa never actually asked Chiba the question out loud — he just kept drawing it instead, for over three decades. That’s the manga business in a nutshell: an entire career built on a conversation you were too shy to have. Rest well, Chiba-sensei, you clearly answered the question better than words ever could have.
