The manga world has lost one of its great pioneers: Masako Watanabe died on October 3 at 12:38 a.m. JST, her official X/Twitter account announced on Tuesday. She was 97.
Masako Watanabe (Credits: X/Twitter)
A Seven-Decade Career
Born in Tokyo on May 16, 1929, Watanabe debuted as a manga creator in 1952 with the story “Suama-chan” — and remarkably, she never really stopped. She launched the manga Himegoto in 2020 at the age of 91, a staggering late-career start that speaks to a lifetime devoted to the page.
Across those seven decades, Watanabe specialized in shojo and josei manga, becoming one of the defining voices of both. Her series Glass no Shiro (Glass Castle) earned her the 16th Shogakukan Manga Award in 1971, cementing her place among the medium’s greats. Her 1985 manga Hitori Matsuri proved her stories could travel beyond the page when it inspired a live-action television drama.
Her other works include Dai-San no Onna, Hakuba no Shōjo, Mimi to Nana, and Saint Rosalind, titles that trace the evolution of girls’ and women’s manga through the postwar era and beyond.
A Trailblazer Honored
The industry’s recognition of Watanabe went far beyond a single prize. In 2002, she received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award at the 31st Japan Cartoonists Association Awards. Four years later, in 2006, she became the first female manga creator ever to receive the Order of the Rising Sun, one of Japan’s highest civilian decorations.
She also served as a director of the Japan Cartoonists Association, helping guide the professional body that represents the country’s manga artists — a fitting role for someone whose career bridged the medium’s hand-drawn origins and its modern global boom.
Watanabe’s passing closes a chapter that began when manga itself was still finding its form. From a 1952 debut to a new series at 91, hers was a career measured not in years but in generations of readers.
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Source: Anime News Network — read the full story there.