Anime ·
Ashita no Joe creator Tetsuya Chiba dies at 87
Manga artist Tetsuya Chiba, best known for drawing Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow's Joe), died on October 22, 2026 at a Tokyo hospital at age 87, due to myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of cancer affecting blood cells in the bone marrow. The news was made public on October 27.
A boxing classic that shaped generations
Ashita no Joe, written by Asao Takamori (Ikki Kajiwara) and drawn by Chiba, ran from 1968 to 1973 and follows Joe Yabuki, an orphan who devotes his life to boxing. It inspired two TV anime, in 1970 and 1980, plus two films, and was reimagined as sci-fi in the 2018 anime Megalobox.
His career
Born in Tokyo in 1939, Chiba spent part of his childhood in Manchuria and turned professional at 17, in 1956. He served as president of the Japan Cartoonists Association and was the first manga artist to receive the Order of Culture. In September he had paused his autobiographical manga Hinemosu Notari Nikki for health reasons.
Source: Anime News Network. Original summary by JosephArnwolf.com.