Senior Mangaka Tarō Minamoto Passes Away at 74 on August 7

Manga creator Tarō Minamoto passed away at the age of 74 on August 7 due to heart failure.

Minamoto started his career way back in 1967 with his first manga series, Aniki Kanpai. It’s incredibly saddening to see such an old mangaka who has been there from the very beginning passing away. 

Minamoto is best known for ​​Fūnji-tachi, a historical comedy manga series which he started in 1979. In the last 20 years, this manga has won multiple awards.

In 2004 it won the Special Award for the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize and more recently won the 49th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards’ grand prize in 2020.

Minamoto launched Fūnji-tachi: Bakumatsu-hen in 2002, but it will remain unfinished. In the latest issue of LEED Publishing’s magazine, a memorial for Minamoto will be featured instead of his usual manga. 

He’s also been active in the community in the past few years. Even though he hasn’t been very consistent with his manga publications due to his worsening condition, he was on a judging panel for the Japan Media Arts Festival. 

In the past year, the mangaka had been struggling with lung cancer and passed away around a month back due to heart failure caused by it. 

The mangaka has inspired generations of manga artists, and we hope that he rests in peace. 

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