Legendary manga creator Tetsuya Chiba is stepping away from the drawing board for a while. The 19th issue of Shogakukan‘s Big Comic magazine announced on Friday that his Hinemosu Notari Nikki manga is going on hiatus because of the artist’s poor health.
According to the magazine’s editorial staff, Chiba himself is anxious to return to the serialization as soon as he can, but the department intends to put his recovery ahead of the publishing schedule.
Chiba issued his own message alongside the notice, suggesting that this year’s punishing summer heat may be behind how he has been feeling. He said he plans to concentrate on getting well so that he can return to drawing manga, apologized for the concern he has caused readers, and asked for their patience while he rests.
About Hinemosu Notari Nikki
Hinemosu Notari Nikki is an autobiographical short essay manga that Chiba launched in Big Comic in December 2015. Shogakukan released the first compiled volume in 2018, and the seventh volume arrived in November 2025.
This is not the first pause for the series. It previously went on hiatus in August 2024 before resuming serialization that December.
A Career Spanning Seven Decades
Chiba, now 87, debuted as a manga creator in 1956. He remains best known for the boxing epic Ashita no Joe (Tomorrow’s Joe), which ran from 1968 to 1973 and has stayed woven into Japanese popular culture ever since. The manga spawned television anime in 1970 and 1980, plus anime films in 1980 and 1981.
A generation of newer viewers met the story through Megalobox, the 2018 anime that reworked the premise into a science-fiction setting with an all-new cast while crediting Chiba’s manga as its origin. A follow-up, Megalobox 2: Nomad, premiered in April 2021.
English-speaking readers finally got an official edition of the original when the manga received its first licensed English release in December 2024 under the title Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow.
Chiba’s standing in Japan’s cultural establishment is unusual for a manga artist. In 2022 he was nominated to the Japan Art Academy as one of its first two manga creators, alongside Yoshiharu Tsuge. He currently chairs the Japan Cartoonists Association. In 2024 he was honored with the Order of Culture, becoming the first manga creator ever to receive the distinction, which recognizes those “who have made outstanding contributions in developing” Japanese culture.
Recent Health History
Chiba has dealt with a string of medical issues in recent years. In November 2021 he revealed that he had checked himself into a Tokyo hospital after feeling unwell once that summer ended, describing problems that emerged one after another in his heart valve, coronary artery and throat. He subsequently began treatment for a throat tumor.
In January 2022 he underwent heart surgery to place a stent in his coronary artery. He later mentioned in a 2024 blog post that he had also had eye surgery.
Neither Chiba nor Big Comic has given a target date for the essay manga’s return, and the magazine’s wording suggests the break will last as long as his recovery requires. Given the artist’s track record — the series came back within four months of its last pause — readers have reason to hope for another return once the weather, and his health, ease up.
Featured image: ©Tetsuya Chiba, Shogakukan
Source: Anime News Network