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Tetsu Kariya Plans Oishinbo Manga's End After Returning From Hiatus

Oishinbo manga creator Tetsu Kariya announced on his official blog on March 22 that he wants to end his Oishinbo manga after he returns it from hiatus.

Kariya additionally stated in the blog post that the manga's current hiatus and ending plans are "completely unrelated" to the Fukushima controversy in 2014. He stated that "30 years is too long for many things" and that he felt "it's about time to end it," but added that he wonders what would be a good way to end the series.

Kariya said he plans to end the manga with a boisterous finale featuring all the characters that have appeared so far in the manga.

Kariya added that he has been sick for nearly three months now with a horrible cold and a recent fall that broke bones. Kariya said that he can't say yet when the manga will return, but that the series is not yet finished, and Big Comic Spirits will make an announcement regarding the return of Oishinbo. He asked fans to please wait a little longer for the announcement.

In April 2014, Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits magazine published a chapter of Oishinbo titled "Fukushima Truth." The manga chapter followed a group of newspaper journalists who were exposed to nuclear radiation within a plant in Fukushima. After the character's exposure, they complained of nosebleeds and exhaustion, ailments that were reaffirmed by a character named Katsutaka Idogawa, based on a real-life former mayor of the town of Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture. The reporters also complained of censorship, an issue possibly inspired by Tokyo Electric Power Company's real-life actions.

After Shogakukan published the chapter, readers and those claiming to live in the area criticized the chapter. Kariya later posted on his blog that he accepted responsibility for the controversy surrounding the chapter, saying "Responsibility for the contents [of the chapter] all lies in me."

The manga has been on hiatus since that chapter was published, but Big Comic Spirits' editorial staff confirmed at the time that it was a previously planned hiatus.

North American publisher Viz Media published some of Oishinbo on its VizManga.com digital manga service and Viz Manga App in 2011.

Source: Yahoo! Japan News via Yaraon!