Mitsuteru Yokoyama

Mitsuteru Yokoyama, the writer,  was born in Suma Ward of Kobe City in Hyōgo Prefecture. He graduated from Kobe municipal Ota junior high college and went directly to the Kobe municipal Suma high college. Osamu Tezuka's "Metropolis" profoundly influenced Yokoyama, who wanted to become a manga artist in earnest. So he contributed his works to a comic book in his high college days. He entered the Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation after graduation from high college. However, he gave up his activity 5 months later because there was no time to attract manga.

Yokoyama liked light characterizations and did not permit characters to display their emotions too much. He was higher at serious tale manga than comedy, though he drew comics in the latter genre. While Tezuka established the method to attract Japanese comics, Yokoyama established the layout of diverse genres of contemporary Japanese comics and anime. "Tetsujin 28-go" has become a famous actor identical to Tezuka's Astro Boy, and its animated adaptation also made a smashing success. In 1964, He established Hikari Production. Making good use of his massive publicity to films during his previous activity, he produced consecutive famous hits in various genres, each in comics and anime.

He started a new chapter in his profession by drawing comics based on authentic stories with material from China's and Japan's History. In 1991, Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi received the prize for excellence from the Japan Cartoonist Association, and an animated version was broadcast on TV Tokyo. On April 15, 2004, Yokoyama suffered burns throughout his frame because of a fire breaking out in his house. Yokoyama died in the hospital close to his home at 10:00 P.M. on the same day, aged 69.