午夜剧场

Who exactly was Fujio Akatsuka, the manga artist who left behind "Osomatsu-kun" and "Tensai Bakabon"? The keyword lies in "mother complex." Akatsuka admitted to having a "mother complex." There were three "mothers." Through them, I approached the true image of Akatsuka.

His biological mother, Riyo, returned from Manchuria after the war with Akatsuka and his three siblings. His father had been sent to Siberia. Living in poverty, Akatsuka was moved by the works of Osamu Tezuka and aspired to be a manga artist; Riyo supported him by providing precious paper and pens.

The second mother was his first wife, Tomoko. They worked together on his breakout hits "Osomatsu-kun" and "Himitsu no Akko-chan." Even after divorcing Akatsuka, who had turned to alcohol and women following his success, she remained a "mother" who worried about him and even looked after him until his remarriage.

The third mother was his second wife, Machiko. She helped Akatsuka recover from the depths of alcoholism. When he developed esophageal cancer, she remained stouthearted and cheerful, and she continued to devotedly support him even after he collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage.

"Well, have a drink." My first meeting with Akatsuka began abruptly with the "offer of a glass." It was the early summer of 1992. From then on, I conducted close-contact coverage of Fujio Akatsuka.

His unconventional behavior, such as boasting of a history of "a thousand conquests" with women and appearing on TV while dead drunk, stood out, but that was an expression of the Akatsuka-style spirit of service. In person, he was shy, sensible, and a deeply caring person who loved people dearly.

In '95, at the Sports Nippon Newspapers where I worked at the time, I was in charge of the 50th anniversary post-war project "Bakabon Senyu-roku." It was a post-war history traced through manga artists, a long-term daily serialization that ran for 72 installments.

Once the meetings were over, drinking parties would begin. Before I knew it, I started staying overnight at the Akatsuka residence, and even after the serialization ended, I became a frequent fixture there.

Actually, the catalyst for starting this book was in February 2001, when Akatsuka directly suggested, "Why don't you try writing about me?"

In 2002, while I was engaged in research and writing to meet his trust and expectations, Akatsuka collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage. In 2006, during his battle with illness, Machiko passed away suddenly. In 2008, Tomoko and Akatsuka passed away one after another.

Though my resolve faltered many times, the "homework" never left my mind. It took 18 years for it to become a book...

Takashi Yamaguchi

Naigai Publishing

288 pages, 1,700 yen (excluding tax)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time this magazine was published.