jpnn.com, JEPANG - Senior Japanese manga artist Shinji Mizushima has died at the age of 82.
He died on January 10 after battling pneumonia.
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Mizushima was the figure behind baseball-themed mangas such as "Dokaben" and "Abu-san".
The Niigata-native started his career as a cartoonist in 1958 when he was 18 years old.
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His popularity skyrocketed after publishing a baseball series in 1970.
One of his best-known works, "Dokaben", tells the story of a high school baseball player who competes in a national tournament. The story has run for 46 years.
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"Abu-san", which is also about baseball, is no less popular and has run for more than four decades.
Tetsuya Chiba, a fellow Japanese manga artist known for his boxing series "Ashita no Joe", praised Mizushima's deep knowledge of baseball.
"Your baseball manga was outstanding and that made it difficult for me to work on any baseball themes," Chiba wrote on his official website.
Mizhushima announced that he was retiring in December 2021, but he did not give a reason for the decision. (kyodo/ant/mcr20/jpnn)
This news has been broadcast on JPNN.com with the title: Berita Duka, Komikus Senior Meninggal Dunia Karena Pneumonia