Two unpublished manga works were found that Noboru Baba, known for the picture book "11 Piki no Neko", drew in 1945 when he was 18 years old before his debut.

The editor who conducted the survey pointed out that "I feel that my desire to draw has exploded after the end of the war. It is a valuable material for learning about the manga artist Noboru Baba."

Noboru Baba made his debut as a manga artist in 1948, and the picture book "11 Piki no Neko" series, which depicts various adventures of 11 cats, has become a bestseller with a cumulative total of about 4.6 million copies.



Twenty years after his death, the Nerima Art Museum in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, where Mr. Baba lived for many years, was conducting a survey and found new unpublished manga works.

Of these, two unpublished manga works, "Miyamoto Musashi" and "Ryutora no Tsubo," were produced in October 1945, shortly after the end of the war, when he was 18 years old before his debut.



It seems that Mr. Baba himself bound each of them, and it can be seen that he had advanced technology from the stage before his debut, such as detailed writing including expressive characters and backgrounds.

There is also a magazine called "Nyan Nyan Mandala," which depicts a hungry cat mistaken for a fish and going to eat the castle's shachihoko, which seems to have been the source of "11 Piki no Neko." Found.

Yuko Sekiya, editor-in-chief of Koguma Co., Ltd., who was the editor in charge of Mr. Baba, said, "The two cartoons found are incredibly complete, drawn by an 18-year-old boy. I feel that my desire to draw in a life of inconvenience has exploded. It is a valuable resource for learning about the manga artist Baba Noboru. "



The materials found this time will be exhibited at the "Marugoto Baba Noboru Exhibition" to be held at the Nerima Art Museum from the 25th of this month. I think, but it is an exhibition where you can get to know Mr. Baba from various aspects, such as his work as a manga artist before that. "