Overview
- Reports say he died March 3 of aspiration pneumonia at a Tokyo hospital, with a private funeral for close relatives.
- He rose to prominence in the 1960s in Garo, an avant‑garde comics magazine, and Neji-shiki in 1968 became his signature work.
- He wrote Red Flowers and The Man of No Talent in 1985, which actor‑director Naoto Takenaka filmed in 1991.
- He received major late‑career honors that signaled establishment recognition, including the 2017 Japan Cartoonists Association Grand Prize, a 2020 Angoulême special prize, Japan Art Academy selection in 2022, and the Order of the Rising Sun in 2024.
- Jiji notes he published little after the late 1980s yet drew growing attention overseas, while other outlets focus on how his dreamlike narratives influenced readers beyond traditional manga fandom.