Mangaka Fujiko Fujio A, known for "Obake no Q-Taro," "Ninja Hattori-kun" and various other popular works, has died at his home in Kawasaki, sources said Thursday. He was 88.
Born in Toyama Prefecture, his real name was Motoo Abiko. He adored Osamu Tezuka and aspired to become a mangaka. He teamed up with childhood friend Hiroshi Fujimoto, and they made their professional debut in 1951.
After a stint working at a local newspaper, Abiko came to Tokyo and began living in Tokiwaso, an apartment house where many young mangaka gathered. In 1964, he and Fujimoto started the serialization of "Obake no Q-Taro" in the Shonen Sunday manga magazine under the shared pen name of Fujiko Fujio. The manga became a huge hit for combining humor and fantasy and made them very popular.
The two then started dividing the Fujiko works. While Fujimoto focused on manga for children, Abiko took on a wider range of works, from children's manga to works with a horror touch for adult readers. The team officially split up in the late 1980s, and Abiko made a fresh start under the name Fujiko Fujio A. In 2005, he received the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister award from the Japan Cartoonists Association for his body of work.
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