Manga artist Tetsuya Chiba, best known for the boxing drama “Ashita no Joe,” has died at 87, according to media reports on Tuesday.

Born in Tokyo in 1939, Chiba made his magazine debut in 1958 with “Butokai no Shojo” and began serializing “Ashita no Joe” in 1968. The story of boxing underdog Joe Yabuki helped establish sports manga as a major genre.

Chiba also created “Notari Matsutaro,” a series about sumo wrestling. In 2024, he became the first manga artist to receive the Order of Culture, one of 91AV原创 highest cultural honors.