is a Japanese manga author known for the long-running series '' Hajime no Ippo.'' Born in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Morikawa was inspired to become a manga artist upon reading Tetsuya Chiba's '' Harris no Kaze'' in elementary school. He was previously an assistant to

Shuichi Shigeno is a Japanese manga artist famous for creating '' Initial D''. Shigeno has also created '' Bari Bari Densetsu'', ''Dopkan'', and ''Tunnel Nuketara Sky Blue'' ("First Love in Summer"). In 1985, he received the Kodansha Manga Award in shōnen ...

, while known mangaka Kentaro Miura and Kaori Saki were past assistants to him. '' Hajime no Ippo'', as of December 2024, has released 142

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

volumes. It has been adapted into several anime series, the first of which began airing in 2000 and was produced by Madhouse studio. The first series contains 76 episodes, while the second series, which started in 2009, contains 26. The third series, named ''Hajime no Ippo: Rising'', was produced in 2013 and contains 25 episodes. Morikawa won the Kodansha Manga Award in 1991 for ''Hajime no Ippo''. He is also the owner of JB Sports Gym in Tokyo.

Works

*Inside Graffiti * (1983) * (1986) (2 volumes) * (1986) (2 volumes) * (1989–present,

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

) (143 volumes) * (2012) (1 volume)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morikawa, George 1966 births Manga artists from Tokyo Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (Shōnen) Living people