In the 1960s, two colossal manga series dominated the Japanese manga scene: one was "Kyojin no Hoshi," and the other was "Ashita no Joe" (あしたのジョー). The two manga differed completely in style, plot, and characters. "Kyojin no Hoshi" was originally written by Ikki Kajiwara, and "Ashita no Joe" by Asao Takamori. However, Takamori was merely a pen name for Ikki Kajiwara, meaning Ikki Kajiwara was the true king of Japanese manga in the 1960s. The question is, if the scriptwriter's writing style was consistent, why did the two manga appear so different? This was due to the different manga artists responsible for the illustrations. Tetsuya Chiba, the manga artist for "Ashita no Joe," had a vastly different style from Shin Kawasaki of "Kyojin no Hoshi," which prevented readers from realizing that both stories originated from the imagination of the same author.
"Ashita no Joe" began serialization in the January 1, 1968 issue of 'Weekly Shonen Magazine,' released on December 15, 1967. Image credit:＠press
Tetsuya Chiba is truly unique. To a vast readership, he is the master who created sports manga classics such as "Ashita no Joe," "Ore wa Teppei" (おれは鉄兵), and "Harris no Kaze" (ハリスの旋風). On the other hand, this master is quite different from other manga artists, whether in terms of drawing style or work attitude. Let's take a look at the lesser-known side of Tetsuya Chiba and count the seven little secrets behind his creations.
1. Life in ChinaFujio Akatsuka, another master of comedy manga who had a close relationship with Chiba, once said that Chiba's personality was calm, magnanimous, and bold, similar to his own, which is why they got along so well. Akatsuka believed that the origin of Chiba's personality stemmed from the fact that, like himself, Chiba spent a long period of his formative years in mainland China. In fact, when a variety show later invited Akatsuka to return to Shenyang, Liaoning Province (then Fengtian in Manchukuo), where he grew up, Tetsuya Chiba accompanied Akatsuka, as he too had lived in Shenyang for several years as a child. However, it was only when these two masters arrived there that they were astonished to discover their homes were only four hundred meters apart. Akatsuka recalled that perhaps they had already met as children.
Tetsuya Chiba (first from left), Fujiko Fujio A (second from left), Fujio Akatsuka (second from right) Image credit:日刊ゲンダイDIGITAL
In 1941, when Chiba was two years old, his family moved to Fengtian. At this time, Manchukuo, which had been established just seven years prior, was like a parallel universe. While the Sino-Japanese War had entered intense large-scale battles and the United States had ordered economic and material sanctions against Japan, Fengtian in Manchukuo remained peaceful and stable. Chinese, Korean, and Japanese children played together. Workers diligently toiled in Chiba's father's printing factory and the nearby mines; the streets were constantly filled with the aroma of cooking food. Manchukuo operated like a self-contained microcosm, oblivious to the massive changes occurring on the mainland of China.
Akatsuka secretly told Chiba that he also came from China Image credit:ちばてつやのブログ『ぐずてつ日記』
It wasn't until 1945, when Japan admitted defeat, that Manchukuo's dream of prosperity shattered overnight. Chinese residents began fierce retaliatory actions, massacring local Japanese residents. Both Chiba's and Akatsuka's families were threatened. Chiba couldn't believe that the Chinese people, with whom they had played just days before and exchanged gifts with regularly, began mercilessly plundering, assaulting, and even killing Japanese people. Unable to escape immediately, the Chiba family was trapped in their home, unable to go anywhere. Cries and the sound of breaking glass constantly echoed near their residence, and Chiba could only hide under the covers with his younger brother, unable to move.
Ultimately, it was Chiba's Chinese colleague, Xu Jichuan, who urgently took in the Chiba family, allowing them to hide in his attic. Chiba's younger brother, still very young, couldn't stand being confined in the small attic and often clamored to go outside. Although their mother frequently read Andersen's or Aesop's fables to him, and even drew illustrations of the stories to help the child understand, attempting to soothe the young one, Chiba, who was nearby, couldn't help but laugh at his mother's clumsy drawings. His angry mother couldn't resist retorting, "If you're laughing, then you draw it."
Chiba's manga depicting wartime life Image credit:ebookjapan
Unexpectedly, Chiba, who was always forbidden from reading manga at home and thus had little interest in it, created a work that ignited his younger brother's curiosity. His brother kept asking, "What's the next drawing?" and "What happens next in the story?" Chiba had no choice but to continue drawing in the small attic. The satisfaction of appeasing his brother gave Tetsuya Chiba confidence in drawing, and this time spent in the attic during their refuge surprisingly became the starting point of a Japanese manga master's career.
2. Reclusive Work EthicUnlike his active younger brother, Chiba didn't resist the small attic much. In fact, Chiba was a typical homebody, perfectly content staying indoors all day. This habit remained largely unchanged even after he grew up; spending an entire day drawing manga or reading books at home was Tetsuya Chiba's most cherished lifestyle.
Chiba in his childhood Image credit:ナタリー
The problem is, Teppei Uesugi (Taiwanese translation: Lin Feng) from "Ore wa Teppei" (translated as "Good Kid") was not a shut-in; he was a wild child who spent all day searching for treasure in the mountains and self-taught swordsmanship. Before "Ore wa Teppei," the protagonist of "Kaze no Daichi" (translated as "Whirlwind Kid"), Kunimatsu Ishida, was a natural all-around athlete who challenged various sports. Even Joe Yabuki from "Ashita no Joe" (translated as "Tomorrow's Joe") was a delinquent who would swallow his blood and keep fighting. These characters are clearly very different from the scholarly Tetsuya Chiba himself, and this was Chiba's personal special insistence.
"If I could choose my life again, what kind of special life would I choose?" This question was Chiba's self-interrogation at the beginning of every creation. He infused his manga with his curiosity and imagination about other lives. These wild and bold characters live free lives; they don't experience terrifying encounters of being nearly ambushed in a foreign land, nor do they care about others' opinions or constraints. Teppei, Kunimatsu, and Joe are Chiba's idols; they fulfill his never-to-be-realized dreams within the manga.
Tetsuya Chiba's other classic masterpiece, "Ore wa Teppei" (Japanese: おれは鉄兵), began serialization in Weekly Shonen Magazine, Issue 33, in 1973. Image credit:オークファン
Conversely, the supporting characters in these manga are often Chiba's own embodiment, such as Kunimatsu's academically excellent younger brother in "Kaze no Daichi," or the timid younger brother "Megane-kun" (Glasses). These obedient children or yes-men, who can only watch the protagonist's wild adventures in the manga, are truly reflections of Chiba himself.
"I never thought of drawing myself into manga, but when many people told me, 'So-and-so looks just like you,' I looked back and realized that these non-focal supporting characters really were me. I usually speak in that unconfident way (laughs)."
"Kaze no Daichi" Image credit:ナタリー
3. Dream of Becoming the King of KidsTetsuya Chiba's manga protagonists can be said to be the embodiment of his life's dreams, and "Ore wa Teppei" can be seen as Tetsuya Chiba's childhood fantasy: he wanted to be a child like Teppei Uesugi, always covered in mud; growing wild in the mountains like Tarzan; ignoring others' discrimination; even if uneducated and mocked for lacking common sense and knowledge, he possessed an inexplicable arrogance; and even when covered in injuries, he would never back down. Teppei Uesugi is an out-and-out king of kids because he almost completely disregards the morals and ethics of adult society, living purely according to his own desires and logic.
Uesugi engaging in a serious sword fight with his grandmother; perhaps Chiba still harbors a wild Uesugi within his heart Image credit:X
Moreover, Teppei Uesugi was not merely a leader of children; in fact, he had many traits that were completely unlike a child: he was a womanizer, skilled in fraud and gambling, drank heavily (to the point of drunken rampages), and showed no respect for elders (even wielding a kitchen knife against his grandmother). He feared neither thugs nor yakuza. For Chiba, the troubles Teppei encountered were dilemmas he might face in his own daily life, and he imagined that an alternate version of himself would easily and simply resolve these issues. For example, during the year-long period when Chiba's family fled China, due to lack of money and avoiding Chinese retaliation, they could only subsist on the sorghum seeds they carried, leading everyone to suffer from severe malnutrition.
However, Teppei, who followed his unemployed father in the mountains dreaming of striking gold, was different. He knew how to dry rat meat (and would kindly share it with his classmates), and the venomous snakes and fierce beasts of the mountains seemed to be his good friends. If Teppei had been a child living in Manchukuo in 1945, he would likely have been able to survive successfully in such a living hell...
4. "Condensed" CreationKajiwara Ikki once half-jokingly complained that his original works transformed under Chiba's brush. This is, in fact, the main reason why "Ashita no Joe" and "Star of the Giants" do not appear to be from the same creator: Chiba always thoroughly deconstructed and digested the original work, adding a large amount of his own ideas, and condensing them into the manga panels. Chiba Tetsuya's art style is also very dense; in "Ore wa Teppei," the protagonist Teppei often uses rapid combo techniques, and Chiba particularly emphasized the "critical hit effect" of Teppei's swings in each panel, allowing readers to see several "explosions" appear before him as he wields his sword.
Rapid combos with "CRACK!" sounds are common in "Ore wa Teppei" Image credit:おとたの
Chiba stated that manga is two-dimensional, but kendo strikes are three-dimensional and have sound effects. Therefore, he needed to recreate the weighty impact on paper, allowing the sounds and force of these sword clashes to reappear in the manga in a different form. Consequently, every sword swing in "Ore wa Teppei" inevitably features clear cutting speed lines on the page, directly showing readers the path of the strike and whether it truly passed through the protagonist's body. You can clearly follow the back-and-forth of a kendo match, thanks to Chiba's dedication to presenting action.
This level of condensation is evident in every corner of the manga. In a single scene of the kendo club entering a temple, every woven thread on the tatami mats in the main hall is clearly visible. Chiba's meticulous attention to backgrounds is astonishing; in a scene where classmates gather to watch Teppei devour rice balls alone, Chiba drew over thirty classmates and presented it in a full-page spread. Not only that, one of Chiba's well-known artistic characteristics is the "abrasion" style on faces, resembling sketching techniques. While screentones were introduced to Japan as a new trend for assisting artwork in the late 1960s, Chiba drew these details stroke by stroke.
The artwork for this mansion in "Ore wa Teppei" is of extremely high quality Image credit:X
5. Too Slow at Work!Chiba almost completely rebuilt the plot, and his artwork was incredibly detailed. In contrast, Chiba was vastly different from other popular manga creators of the 1960s: for industry darlings like Shotaro Ishinomori or Fujio Akatsuka, they always had four or five serializations running simultaneously, making drawing efficiency their fundamental skill. However, Tetsuya Chiba was famously slow. For example, Fujio Akatsuka, an incredibly busy author who had to produce five weekly serializations and seven monthly magazine serializations, equivalent to 27 submissions a month, couldn't believe that Chiba, with only one weekly serialization, would still miss deadlines... Akatsuka, who often visited Chiba, would frequently end up outside the office with Chiba's editor, complaining about Chiba's inefficiency.
Not only was Chiba slow, but he also often caused a lot of trouble. On one occasion, Chiba requested a hiatus because his right hand was injured... This was because Chiba was roughhousing with an editor (grabbing the editor's legs and stepping on his crotch, commonly known as "electric massage," which also appeared in "Ore wa Teppei"), causing the editor to get angry and kick Chiba, sending him crashing through a glass window and injuring his most important tool for making a living. When Chiba first started serializing, due to lack of experience, he even called his good friend Shotaro Ishinomori to secretly come to his house to help with the drawing, which infuriated Ishinomori's editor... He couldn't even finish his own work, yet he was helping someone else!
"Electric Massage" Image credit:ツイコミ(仮)
What to do when working too slowly? Most people would "take the easy way out" – trying to draw things simpler, or more casually. But Tetsuya Chiba was different; he insisted on maintaining the quality of his artwork. Many manga artists he brought in to help out were left both exasperated and amused by Chiba's perfectionist demands. And many assistants hired by editors at great expense couldn't tolerate this work style, where even with delayed deadlines, he still strived for perfection, leading many to leave.
6. From Boy to Adult, Then Back to Child"Ashita no Joe" was a huge success, making Tetsuya Chiba an overnight sensation. However, this manga had to maintain the Gekiga style of the original author Asao Takamori (Ikki Kajiwara), so Chiba's naturally "round" character style had to be temporarily reined in. Joe Yabuki from "Ashita no Joe" was originally a delinquent, who gradually matured into an adult through the brutal life of boxing. As the manga became more brutal, it was natural that the characters would never become cute. After the five-year serialization of "Ashita no Joe" concluded in 1973, less than two months later, Chiba immediately launched a new series, "Ore wa Teppei," with a plot and art style that returned to the "little rascal" style of 1965's "Harikiri Boy." For Chiba, this was undoubtedly a liberation – and one of the reasons he launched it so quickly after "Ashita no Joe."
"Ashita no Joe" Image credit:Hardcore Chocolate
"Ore wa Teppei" shows Chiba's gradual "regression": in the first ten volumes of "Ore wa Teppei," Teppei Uesugi still looked somewhat like a miniature Joe Yabuki, but in later volumes, Teppei's expressions and movements became increasingly cute... By the time Teppei aimed to win the captain's position at Tokai Academy in volume 12, his height was even less than the knee-height of some characters. For readers waiting for the weekly serialization, this change might not have been noticeable. But for Chiba himself, it was a gradual process of returning to his original style, little by little, from the adult tone of "Ashita no Joe."
7. Master Chiba's Unknown ApprenticesApprentices who graduated under Chiba would likely possess considerable industry skill, becoming independent manga artists. For example, manga artist Kawasanbanchi, known for his representative work "Yakyū Kyōjin," was once Chiba's disciple. However, the most surprising disciple might be this person: Kazuhiko Torishima, the golden editor of "Weekly Shonen Jump," who served as editor for masterpieces like "Dr. Slump" and "Dragon Ball."
Kazuhiko Torishima (left) and Tetsuya Chiba Image credit: Asahi Shimbun
"When I joined Shueisha, I hadn't read manga, and even though I became an editor for 'Weekly Shonen Jump,' I didn't really find manga interesting. One time, while napping in the Shogakukan reference room next to our office, I casually picked up some manga from the shelves and read them. I discovered some very interesting manga, and among them, the most interesting I read was Sensei Chiba's 'Ore wa Teppei.' Why was it so enjoyable to read? I read each chapter over fifty times and discovered its 'grammar.' Using this as a foundation, I taught it to new manga artists at my company, and it worked very well. So, I secretly considered myself Sensei Chiba's apprentice."
The stern Torishima was merciless towards works he didn't approve of, directly shouting "Rejected!" (ボツ!) at authors. Yet, this same Torishima regarded "Ore wa Teppei" as a bible. When he first saw Chiba depict Teppei Uesugi confronting an opponent with a sword in a two-page spread, he was instantly stunned. Torishima, who had studied kendo, was deeply moved by Chiba's understanding of the importance of "maai" (distance) in kendo matches. But what's even more interesting is that Chiba actually didn't understand kendo... Just as he had no boxing experience, yet drew "Ashita no Joe," one of the greatest boxing manga in history.
"Ore wa Teppei": It's actually very difficult to jump this high while wearing kendo attire Image credit:Ototano
Chiba Tetsuya's focus wasn't on depicting the essence of kendo, but rather on conveying the intense emotions of boys during their duels. Astonishingly, Chiba, who rarely left his home, relied entirely on his imagination when illustrating the key competitive scenes in these sports manga. The "magic pitches" in "The Pitcher's Oath" (ちかいの魔球) had absolutely no basis in physical logic; the cross counter in "Ashita no Joe" was also conceived simply because "it looked cooler that way"; and the kendo special moves like "Windmill" or "Gale Falling Leaves" in "Harris no Kaze" were not techniques found in traditional kendo... These were all miraculous special moves conjured from Chiba's imagination.
Torishima can be credited as the driving force behind popularizing Chiba's charm, even if the average reader might not easily notice this nuance. Torishima learned paneling, composition, and how to create a sense of power dynamics between characters through their positioning from "Harris no Kaze," making many works in "Weekly Shonen Jump" easier to read and simultaneously more exciting. Interestingly, "Harris no Kaze" was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Magazine," a rival publication to "Weekly Shonen Jump."
Chiba-sensei is now 84 years old, but he continues to create, even experimenting with "vertical scroll manga," a popular trend in recent years. This manga artist, who began drawing during wartime, shows no decline in his creative power even in the new century. Reading "Harris no Kaze" or "Ashita no Joe" today still retains a sense of freshness, and you can still derive immense enjoyment from Chiba Tetsuya's works.