Osamu Tezuka
The God of Manga
Osamu Tezuka – The God of Manga is the first European museum exhibition of work by Osamu Tezuka, known as the creator and god of Japanese manga. Consisting of original works, the exhibition is produced in association with the Osamu Tezuka Production company of Tokyo and it will be on the middle and upper floors of the museum.
The term ‘manga’ refers to Japanese comics. Comic strips appearing daily in Japanese newspapers and in paperbacks are read by people of all ages both at home and in public. Comics have a much more extensive role in Japan than in Europe. Manga with its numerous genres forms the major part of the Japanese publishing market and it is gradually finding international audiences, also in Finland.
The exhibition of work by Osamu Tezuka, the founder of modern manga, consists of some 200 original pieces by him from different stages of his career. It features his best-known hero characters, from the brave robot Atom to Princess Knight, manga’s first heroine. During his extensive career, Tezuka created the various techniques of modern manga, the best-known of which is his cinematic style of drawing and characters with large eyes. His manga art is narrative, psychologically perceptive, socially engaged and deeply human with regard to its values.
Osamu Tezuka is regarded as the father of not only manga but also of anime, and he has been called the Walt Disney of Japan. The exhibition displays not only manga but also clips from his best-known anime films. The term ‘anime’ refers to Japanese animation. Many renowned anime films are based on manga, also in the work of Osamu Tezuka.
