Tetsuya Chiba Pauses Hinemosu Notari Nikki to Focus on Recovery
Big Comic's editors say the 87-year-old creator wants to return soon, but his health comes first.
Tetsuya Chiba's autobiographical manga Hinemosu Notari Nikki is going on hiatus because of his poor health. Chiba said severe summer heat may have contributed and asked readers for patience while he recovers.
Shogakukan's Big Comic announced Friday in its 19th issue of the year that Tetsuya Chiba's Hinemosu Notari Nikki will pause because of his poor health.
The magazine's editors said Chiba wants to resume serialization as soon as possible. They will prioritize his health and recovery.
In a separate statement, Chiba suggested the severe summer heat might explain why he has felt unwell. He said he would concentrate on recovering so he could draw manga again, apologized for worrying readers, and asked for their patience.
Chiba, 87, underwent heart surgery in January 2022 to place a stent in his coronary artery. In a 2024 blog post, he said he had also undergone eye surgery.
In November 2021, Chiba revealed that he had admitted himself to a Tokyo hospital after feeling unwell following the end of summer. He reported successive problems with his heart valve, coronary artery, and throat, then began treatment for a throat tumor.
Chiba began the autobiographical short essay manga in Big Comic in December 2015. Shogakukan released its first collected volume in 2018 and its seventh in November 2025.
The manga previously paused in August 2024 before returning that December.
Chiba made his manga debut in 1956. He is perhaps best known for the boxing manga Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow (Ashita no Joe, meaning Tomorrow's Joe).
The series ran from 1968 to 1973 and has remained a fixture of Japanese popular culture for decades. Its first official English release arrived in December 2024 under the title Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow.
Its anime adaptations and reinterpretations include:
- Two television anime, released in 1970 and 1980.
- Two anime films, released in 1980 and 1981.
- The 2018 anime Megalobox, which reimagined the story with new characters in a science-fiction setting and credits the manga as its origin.
Megalobox's sequel, Megalobox 2: Nomad, premiered in April 2021.
In 2022, Chiba was nominated to the Japan Art Academy alongside Yoshiharu Tsuge as its first two manga creators. He currently chairs the Japan Cartoonists Association.
Chiba received the prestigious Order of Culture in 2024, becoming the first manga creator to receive it. The award recognizes people whose outstanding contributions have helped develop Japanese culture.
Source: ANN
