Overview
Osamu Tezuka (手塚 治虫, born as 手塚 治, Tezuka Osamu) is a beloved Japanese manga writer, artist and animator. He was born November 3, 1928 in Takarazuka, Osaka Prefecture and died on February 9, 1989 at age 60.
He continued to work until just before his death from cancer, and even at the time of his death, he made a motion to grab a pen, truly a "manga lover to the point of death". He was a man who continued to draw manga, risking his life, not figuratively speaking.
He is known as such titles as The God of Manga (マンガの神様, Manga no Kami-sama), The Father of Manga (マンガの父, Manga no Chichi), and The Godfather of Manga (マンガの教父, Manga no Kyōfu). He is known as the pioneer of Japanese manga.
He has written more than 1,000 research books on him, more than any other Japanese artists. His influence is so strong that almost 100% of books on the history of manga mentions his name. He introduced the concept of direction for manga, which introduced the essence of narrative with tragedy and the cut-and-paste style of movies, to conventional manga, which until then had been directed from the perspective of stage plays and had mainly consisted of comedic elements such as laughter and ridiculousness, and had a decisive impact on postwar Japanese manga.
His trademark look is a beret, black-rimmed glasses, and a dumpling nose. The name Osamu (治虫) is a reference to the ground beetle carabinae, known as Osamushi in Japanese. The first reading of the name was Osamushi (オサムシ) but when shi (シ) was added after the pen name, it became Osamshishi (オサムシシ), so it was changed to Osamu (オサム). His real name is Osamu (治).
