Japanese manga artist Leiji Matsumoto has died of heart failure at the age of 85.
Born in 1938 on the island of Kyushu in southwestern Japan, Leiji Matsumoto began painting at the age of six, admiring the work of Osamu Tezuka. Many of his works belong to the genre of “combat comics”: more than 150 stories depicting the tragedy of war. He is best known for Space Battleship Yamato, Albator, Galaxy Express 999, and Interstella 5555: The Story of the Secret Star System, a collaboration with former French electronic music group Daft Punk to promote the Discovery album.
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Miyako Maki, wife of Leiji Matsumoto and deputy director of Studio Leijisha, stated:
He left the hospital on February 12 to embark on a star-studded path. He was 85 years old. His close relatives have already held a private funeral ceremony. I think he led a happy life following his thoughts on freedom through the stories he created in his manga. Matsumoto often said: “You can meet me again in this place that connects the distant rings of time.”I believe in it and wait for that day to come. To all the fans who supported him, to all those involved in spreading his work around the world, to the government and organizations that helped him, to the manga creators who pushed him to prove his skills in his youth, and to all of the hospital staff who helped him along the way. last journey, I send you my most sincere thanks. Thank you very much. I’m sorry but I can’t accept gifts condolence messages or flowers. I plan to allow flowers and messages at the farewell ceremony later. I can’t tell you anything about this yet.
Leiji Matsumoto, pop culture icon
Awarded in 2012 by France with the Medal of the Order of Arts and Letters, Leiji Matsumoto celebrated his 60-year career in 2013 at the Angoulême Comic Festival, where he was the guest of honor. Most recently, he participated in the Japan Expo, a major exhibition dedicated to Japanese pop culture, in Paris in 2019, along with another manga legend, his compatriot Go Nagai, author of Grendizer.