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One of the most important artists in Japanese animation and comics, particularly manga and anime, is Tezuka Osamu (1928–1989), who has written about 700 titles of manga and produced about 70 titles of anime. Today, Tezuka is recognized not only in Japan but also throughout the rest of the world for his role in elevating the status of manga and anime and turning them into a distinctive form of “popular art.” This chapter examines his formative years, and how the Takarazuka Revue Company shaped his early creative development and inspiration. It also considers Japanese popular culture in the latter half of the twentieth century in the context of Tezuka’s relation to Takarazuka and his subsequent prolific production of manga and anime work. Moreover, the chapter looks at the Tezuka Osamu Memorial Museum, located in the cultural area of Takarazuka City.

Over the past quarter century, anime, a popular form of Japanese animation (comprising manga and video game characteristics), has engendered tremendous amount of interest both in the academic and nonacademic sectors. This book, however, is not about anime per se. It seeks to present a well-rounded study of Japanese animation as a whole consisting of a collection of essays written by scholars and practitioners originating and residing in Japan and the East Asian region. The beginning of this project and its theme subject, “Teaching and Researching Japanese Animation: Some East Asian Perspectives,” dates back to a conference panel session that