Tetsuya Chiba, Creator of Ashita no Joe, Passes Away at 87

Tetsuya Chiba, the manga artist who created Ashita no Joe, passed away on October 22, 2026 in a hospital in Tokyo. He was 87. His publishers, Kodansha and Shogakukan, announced his passing on October 27. He had worked in manga for 70 years.

How Did Tetsuya Chiba Pass Away?

Tetsuya Chiba passed away from myelodysplastic syndrome, a disease of the blood-forming cells in the bone marrow. In September 2026, he had paused his essay manga in Big Comic because of his health.

His family held a private funeral and has asked that no flowers, telegrams or condolence visits be sent. A farewell gathering is planned, and its date has not yet been announced. In a statement, his wife, Sachiko, thanked his readers and everyone who supported his 70-year career, and said that, as a manga artist, he had a truly happy life.

Kodansha said his contributions to manga could never be replaced. Shogakukan said his works carried a warm regard for people and a wish for peace, and were loved by many readers.

Kairo's Take

Tetsuya Chiba passing at 87 is the end of an era, plain and simple.

Anyone who spent their younger years hunkered over volumes of Ashita no Joe knows that Chiba's ink wasn't just storytelling; it was pure grit. In a medium that often relied on idealized heroics, Chiba brought raw, unvarnished reality into the paneling. He gave us characters from the gutters and slums, flawed, rough around the edges, but driven by an absolute refusal to lie down and quit.

When Joe Yabuki stepped into the ring, every cross-counter felt heavy because Chiba drew the weight of the human struggle behind it. That iconic final image of Joe slumping on his stool, burned out to pure white ashes, set the gold standard for how to write an ending. It stayed with an entire generation, teaching us what total commitment looks like.

Receiving the Order of Culture in 2024 was historic because it formally acknowledged what millions of readers had known for decades: manga isn't disposable pop media, but a legitimate pillar of modern art.

For the community, his passing leaves a massive vacuum. Modern classics like Hajime no Ippo, Ashita no Joe's direct spiritual descendants, or even modern underdog sports narratives wouldn't exist in their current form without Chiba establishing the template. Every creator drawing grit, sweat, and perseverance owes a debt to his hand.

He spent seven decades giving everything to the page. Rest in peace to one of the true grandmasters of the craft.

Sources: Anime News Network (citing Comic Natalie and NHK), Nikkei, ENCOUNT via Yahoo! Japan News (statements from his family, Kodansha and Shogakukan). Cover photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office, Government of Japan (Prime Minister's Office website), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, resized.