Tetsuya Chiba Puts Hinemosu Notari Nikki Manga on Hiatus Due to Poor Health
This year's 19th issue of Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine announced on Friday that Tetsuya Chiba's Hinemosu Notari Nikki manga will go on hiatus due to Chiba's poor health. The magazine's editorial staff stated that Chiba is eager to resume the manga's serialization as soon as possible, but the editorial department will prioritize Chiba's health and recovery.
In a separate statement by Chiba, he stated that the severe summer heat might be the cause of him feeling under the weather. Chiba added that he will focus on recovering to get back to drawing manga again. He apologizes for the worry he has caused, and asks for the readers' patience as he takes some time to recover.
Chiba launched the autobiographical short essay manga in Big Comic in December 2015. Shogakukan published the manga's first compiled book volume in 2018, and the seventh volume in November 2025. The manga previously went on hiatus in August 2024, and resumed serialization in December that same year.
Chiba debuted as a manga creator in 1956. He is perhaps best known for his Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow's Joe) boxing manga, which ran from 1968 to 1973, and has remained a mainstay in Japanese popular culture for decades. The manga inspired two television anime in 1970 and 1980, as well as two anime films in 1980 and 1981. The manga's story was re-imagined in a new sci-fi setting with new characters in 2018's Megalobox anime, which credits the original manga as its origin. The sequel series for Megalobox, Megalobox 2: Nomad, premiered in April 2021.
Ashita no Joe received its first official English release under the title Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow in December 2024.
Chiba was nominated to the Japan Art Academy in 2022 as one of its first two manga creators (along with Yoshiharu Tsuge). He is also currently the chair of the Japan Cartoonists Association.
Chiba was honored with the prestigious Order of Culture award in 2024, and is the first manga creator to have received the honor. The order is awarded to those "who have made outstanding contributions in developing" Japanese culture.
Chiba is 87, and had heart surgery to put a stint in his coronary artery in January 2022. Chiba noted in a blog post in 2024 that he also had eye surgery.
In November 2021, Chiba had revealed that he admitted himself to a hospital in Tokyo after he started feeling unwell after summer ended that year. He stated that he started having abnormalities one after another in his heart valve, coronary artery, and throat. He then started treatment for a tumor in his throat.
Source: Big Comic issue 19
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