Ryuzan Aki Explained

Ryuzan Aki
Native Name:秋竜山
Native Name Lang:ja
Birth Name:Yoshifumi Aki
Birth Place:Itō, Shizuoka Prefecture, Empire of Japan
Death Place:Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
Other Names:Ryuzan Akiyama
Occupation:Mangaka

Yoshifumi Aki (13 March 1942 – 6 March 2023), best known under the pen name Ryuzan Aki, was a Japanese manga artist and writer.

Life and career

Born in Itō, Shizuoka into a family of fishermen, Aki worked as fisherman and later as a post office clerk while collaborating part-time as a manga artist with various publications.[1] He decided to become a full-time professional manga artist after one of his works was published on Weekly Manga Times, and in 1966 he left the post office and moved to Tokyo to devote himself fully to his profession.[2]

Specialized in nonsense gag cartoons, during his career Aki received numerous awards, notably two Shogakukan Manga Awards, in 1971 for his series Gag Ojisan and Oya Baka Tengoku and in 1975 for Oh☆Jarry's!, and the Japan Cartoonists Association Award Grand Prize in 2006 for Akiryuuzan Tsushin. He also received a lifetime Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award for his career. Diagnosed with pneumonia, he died of heart attack on 6 March 2023, at the age of 80.[3]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Minejima . Masayuki . Nansensu ni kakeru . 1992 . Seiabō . Tōkyō . 978-4790503750 . 240–263.
  2. News: 秋 竜山さん - 今年、日本漫画家協会賞・文部科学大臣賞を受賞した . 26 March 2023 . タウンニュース . 8 December 2016 . ja.
  3. News: 漫画家の秋竜山さん死去 80歳 とぼけたナンセンスギャグ漫画:朝日新聞デジタル . 26 March 2023 . The Asahi Shimbun. 16 March 2023 . ja.