Keiko Tobe

Keiko Tobe (戸部 けいこ, Tobe Keiko, 1957 – January 28, 2010) was a Japanese manga artist who wrote primarily josei manga. She was best known for creating With the Light, which won an Excellence Prize in the Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 2004 from the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs[1] and inspired a television drama.[2]

Keiko Tobe
Born	1957
Died	January 28, 2010(2010-01-28) (aged 52–53)
Nationality	Japanese
Area(s)	manga
Notable works	With the Light
Awards	Japan Media Arts Festival Awards Excellence Prize

Biography

Tobe was born in Hyōgo Prefecture. When she was in second grade, she made her first manga, The Three Ghosts. It was about three ghosts with different personalities having slapstick adventures in their owner's mansion. She then decided to be a manga artist. Her older brother also wanted to be a manga artist and he submitted all his manga artwork to Garo before shifting to oil painting and passing down his tools to her.[1]

After graduating, she married and had two sons. When her younger son was in kindergarten, he had a male classmate with autism. Later, she met the autistic boy's mother who said she wanted him to be a 'cheerful working adult'. This inspired Tobe to create With the Light, a manga dealing with autistic children. At that time, there were very few manga about disabilities and they never received attention. With the Light changed perspectives on this issue.

Tobe died of mesothelioma on January 28, 2010 after going on hiatus from With the Light.[2][3]

References

1. "2004 Japan Media Arts Festival Manga Division Excellence Prize Hikari to Tomoni". Japan Media Arts Plaza. Retrieved January 29, 2010.
2. "With the Light Manga Creator Keiko Tobe Passes Away". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 29, 2010.
3. 訃報: 戸部けいこさん52歳=漫画家 (in Japanese). Mainichi Shimbun. Archived from the original on 2010-02-01. Retrieved January 29, 2010.

External links

• Keiko Tobe at Anime News Network's encyclopedia