Osamu Tezuka

Okay, let me get this straight: this guy drew manga, pioneered Japan's first weekly TV anime, AND held a medical doctorate. One lifetime. I genuinely don't understand how Osamu Tezuka fit it all in. Astro Boy, Black Jack, Phoenix, Kimba the white lion, Princess Knight, the dark adult stuff like Adolf and Ode to Kirihito; any single one of those would be a career, and he just kept stacking them. What gets me is how human he stayed underneath the "God of Manga" title, openly worshipping Walt Disney and reportedly burning with jealousy whenever a younger artist scored a hit. He preached loving the wasteful detours of curiosity, yet wasted almost nothing. Gone at 60, way too soon, but the man basically built the grammar everyone still draws in. I'm always a little in awe.

Osamu Tezuka (1928–1989) was a Japanese manga artist, animator, and licensed medical doctor widely revered as the "God of Manga." Born in Toyonaka, Osaka, he made his manga debut in 1946 and went on to create landmark works including Astro Boy, Jungle Emperor Leo, Black Jack, and Phoenix. He founded Mushi Production in 1961 and produced Japan's first weekly television anime series, Astro Boy, in 1963, before establishing Tezuka Productions in 1968.

Name (English)

Osamu Tezuka

Name (Japanese)

手塚治虫

Reading

てづかおさむ

Born

November 3, 1928 – February 9, 1989

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Scorpio / Dragon

Origin

Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan

Blood type

A

Height

Private

Agency

Tezuka Productions (managed by his family)

Agency history

Mushi Production (est. 1961, dissolved 1973)
Tezuka Productions (est. 1968)

Active years

1946–1989

Occupation

Manga Artist / Animator / Anime Director / Medical Doctor

Elementary school

Ikeda Normal School Attached Elementary School, Hyogo

Junior high

Osaka Prefectural Kitano Middle School (now Osaka Prefectural Kitano High School)

High school

Naniwa High School (old-system science course)

University

Osaka Imperial University Attached Medical College (now Osaka University School of Medicine), graduated 1951; Doctor of Medicine, Osaka University, 1961

Debut

1946: Serialized "Maa-chan's Diary" in the Mainichi Elementary School Newspaper, marking his manga debut

Awards & achievements

• 1965 28th Venice International Film Festival Silver Lion Award (Jungle Emperor Leo)
• 1975 1st Kodansha Publishing Culture Award (Phoenix)
• 1977 1st Kodansha Manga Award (Black Jack; The Three-Eyed One)
• 1984 29th Shogakukan Manga Award (In the Sun)
• 1986 10th Kodansha Manga Award General Category (Adolf ni Tsugu)

Timeline

1. 1928Born November 3 in Toyonaka, Osaka
2. 1933Family relocated to Kohama Village, Kawabe District, Hyogo (present-day Takarazuka)
3. 1946Made his manga debut serializing "Maa-chan's Diary" in the Mainichi Elementary School Newspaper
4. 1947Published New Treasure Island, which became a major bestseller
5. 1951Graduated from Osaka University medical college; Astro Boy serialization began the following year
6. 1961Founded Mushi Production
7. 1963Japan's first weekly television anime series, Astro Boy, began broadcasting
8. 1968Founded Tezuka Productions
9. 1973Mushi Production went bankrupt
10. 1989Died February 9 of esophageal cancer at a hospital in Shinjuku, Tokyo, at age 60

Spouse

Etsuko Tezuka (née Okada; childhood friend)

Children

3 children (eldest daughter Rumiko Tezuka, second daughter Chiiko Tezuka, eldest son Makoto Tezuka)

Parents

Private

Siblings

Private

Hobbies

• Insect collecting
• Watching films
• Astronomy

Specialties

• Manga creation
• Animation production
• Medicine

Motto

Private

• Official sitehttps://tezukaosamu.net/jp/
• Xhttps://x.com/tezuka_goods
• YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@tezukaproductions
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%89%8B%E5%A1%9A%E6%B2%BB%E8%99%AB

Tags

• Manga Artist
• Animator
• Takarazuka
• Astro Boy
• Black Jack
• Phoenix
• God of Manga
• Tezuka Productions

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.