Manga creator Hideo Azuma passed away on October 13 due to esophageal cancer. He was 69. His relatives held private funeral and memorial services.

A prolific creator, Azuma has drawn numerous manga since his 1969 debut. Some of his most notable manga include Olympus no Poron and Nanako SOS , both of which inspired television anime in 1982 and 1983. Azuma's body of work is often considered a significant contributor to the concept and aesthetic of modern " moe " and "lolicon" art in anime and manga.

Azuma's autobiographical Disappearance Diary manga recounts his years as a homeless man, a menial laborer, and a recovering alcoholic. He wrote another autobiographical manga titled Disappearance Diary 2: The Ward for Alcoholics in 2013, which covered his years as a recovering alcoholic.

Disappearance Diary won the grand prize in the prestigious Osamu Tezuka Cultural Awards in 2006. In 2009, Hideo Azuma became the first creator from Japan to be honored with an Ignatz Award nomination for Disappearance Diary . The manga was also a nominee at France's Angouleme International Comics Festival in 2008. The manga recently won the Gran Guinigi award for "Riscoperta di un'opera" ("Rediscovered Work") in Italy earlier this month.

Source: The Sankei News