The artist, whose real name was Motoo Abiko, was found unconscious at his home, and police confirmed his death, according to TBS television and Kyodo news agency.
Eldest son of the superior of a Buddhist temple in the department of Toyama (central Japan) born in 1934, he grew up in this religious place until the death of his father, when he was only ten years old. years.
"My father's death is the event that changed my life the most. If he hadn't died, I think I would have become a monk," Motoo Abiko told the Asahi daily in 2020.
He then befriended Hiroshi Fujimoto, who would later draw the adventures of the world famous future cat-robot Doraemon.
The two young artists began to collaborate under the common pen name of Fujiko Fujio, and shared an apartment in Tokyo with several famous mangakas, including Osamu Tezuka, considered the father of modern manga.
One of the first works of the duo Fujiko Fujio is the manga Q-Taro, featuring a mischievous little ghost living with a family of humans.
The series will meet with success in Japan and abroad, and its animated adaptation will even be broadcast in the United States.
Solo, Motoo Abiko will also create several manga series including Ninja Hattori-kun, and other titles aimed at an adult audience.
Despite his long association with Hiroshi Fujimoto, who died in 1996, Motoo Abiko admitted to having always been reluctant to delve into the Doraemon series "to protect (himself)."
"When I read it, it influences me and I say to myself + I am not able to draw like that +", he had joked.
© 2022 AFP