was a Japanese

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

born in Isesaki City,

Gunma Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuk ...

, Japan, and the older brother of

Mitsuru Adachi is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from Gunma Prefectural Maebashi Commercial High School in 1969, Adachi worked as an assistant for Isami Ishii. He made his manga debut in 1970 with ''Kieta Bakuon'', based on a manga originally crea ...

. Tsutomu was an assistant to

Fujio Akatsuka was a Japanese manga artist. Known as the Master of Gag Manga, he created many popular manga such as ''Osomatsu-kun'', ''Himitsu no Akko-chan'', and ''Tensai Bakabon''. Biography He was born in Rehe Province, Rehe, Manchuria, the son of a Ke ...

, and was known as one of the "Four Protegés of Akatsuka". According to his

younger brother Younger Brother is an electronic duo formed in 2003 by Simon Posford and Benji Vaughan. Their debut album '' A Flock of Bleeps'' was released in 2003, followed by '' The Last Days of Gravity'' in 2007 and ''Vaccine'' in 2011. After making ...

, his definitive works include ''Jitsuroku Adachi Mitsuru Monogatari'', ''Nigun no Hoshi Hanpa-kun'' (a gag comic serialized in the educational magazine ''Jūichi Course'', published by

Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947 by Hideto Furuoka, which also produces educational toys. Their annual sales are reported at ¥ 90 billion ($789 million US). Gakken publishes educational books and magazines and produces othe ...

) and ''Tamagawa-kun''. Tsutomu was very influential in creating the way for his younger brother, Mitsuru, to become a manga artist. He also described his younger brother as the "new star of the gag

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

world.". He made his manga debut while in his second year of

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

. After moving to

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 ...

, he won the 1st ''

Shōnen Jump Shōnen Jump or Shonen Jump may refer to: *''Weekly Shōnen Jump'', a Japanese manga anthology magazine published by Shueisha since 1968 *Jump (magazine line), ''Jump'' (magazine line) **''Shōnen Jump+'', a digital magazine and mobile application s ...

'' Rookie of the Year award in 1968. Mitsuru said that he would not be the person he is today if it were not for his brother, and that Tsutomu was the one who got him to leave his small hometown in Gunma Prefecture to see the world. Adachi died of

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

on June 18, 2004.

Works

*''Jitsuroku Adachi Mitsuru Monogatari'' (the story of his brother's rise to fame,

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

) *''Nigun no Hoshi Hanpa-kun'' (

) *''Tamagawa-kun''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adachi Tsutomu 1947 births 2004 deaths Manga artists from Gunma Prefecture People from Isesaki Deaths from stomach cancer in Japan