Ceremony held for mangaka Takao Saito a year after passing

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:36 JST, September 30, 2022

A farewell ceremony for mangaka Takao Saito, who died in September 2021 at age 84, was held in Tokyo on Thursday.

The altar was decorated with flowers, copies of Saito’s works and panels of popular characters created by him, including Duke Togo from “Golgo 13.”

“You accomplished helping make manga read by adults when it used to be children’s thing,” mangaka Tetsuya Chiba said in his memorial address.

A number of fellow mangaka praised Saito at the ceremony. Machiko Satonaka said, “Kudos to your creation of a [manga production] system that recognized and made the most of talented artists other than yourself.” Osamu Akimoto referred to “Golgo 13,” which is still serialized at the hands of Saito’s staff, saying, “I hope they’ll reach the dream of the 300th volume.”

About 330 people, including mangaka and editors, then placed flowers at the altar, followed by readers and fans in the evening.