Toshichi Akatsuka

**Toshichi Akatsuka** (赤塚藤七, April 22, 1908- May 17, 1979) was the father of manga-ka Fujio Akatsuka, having in his life served as a member of the Kanto Military Police, the Manchurian Police and Border Patrol, and the Mukden Fire Department before and during the second World War.

In later years, he was the chief accounting officer at his son's companyFujio Pro. He is known memorably to be the original inspiration of Bakabon's Papa in The Genius Bakabon.

## Life and Career

### Early Life and World War II

Toshichi was born as the youngest of seven children (hence the "-shichi" in his name) to a peasant farmer couple in Yotsumura, Niigata Prefecture. In elementary school, he was known as a bratty "General" type of boy who committed various naughty acts and had a short temper, organizing other students to help him compete in fights against those of a rival school. His strength in personality and force also extended to him having a strong academic ability, always achieving top grades.

Though he dreamed of going to a great college, it did not come true and he instead attended the University of Agriculture in his hometown until 1930, when he passed his military exams and joined the 16th Regiment of the Shibata Infantry. He was assigned to be part of the Kanto Military Police in Mukden the following year, but his unreasonable superior eventually lead him to resign from the job in November 1933 and look for a different type of police position.

At the time, he had also met an ex-geisha named Riyo Terato living in the country and married her in December. She would eventually bear him his first son, Fujio, on September 14, 1935, and their family would consist of five other children in total over the years:

* Sumako Akatsuka (赤塚寿満子, 1938- ), later Sumako Umehara (梅原寿満子)
* Yoshio Akatsuka (赤塚義夫, 1940-?)- Adopted out to another family at the close of the war and the Akatsuka family's repratriation to Japan, in hopes of giving him a better life.
* Nobuhiro Akatsuka (赤塚宣洋, 1941-)
* Ayako Akatsuka (赤塚綾子, 1944-1945)- Died of diptheria.
* Ayako Akatsuka (赤塚綾子, 1945-1946)- The final child, named after the previous daughter in her memory. Died of malnutrition from the grueling journey back to Japan.

Later on, Toshichi would serve as an officer of the Security Bureau and Border Patrol of the Manchurian police department, tasked with taking down anti-Japanese communist forces and keeping local citizens in line. Though he was an officer of the Imperial Army, Toshichi retained a strong sense of justice and would not look down upon the Chinese, treating them equally as he would his fellow Japanese citizens. Rather than exploiting and harming them, he would insist on sharing supplies and helping them out. This kindness was what saved the lives of his family, as a group of Chinese citizens had helped them escape when other Japanese were being slaughtered in retaliation for the Imperial Army's crimes, as the war came to a close on August 16, 1945. There was a 2000 yen bounty on Toshichi's head at the time, which was considered a great amount of money. However, no villagers betrayed him to the guerrilla forces.

Unfortunately, Toshichi would not be lucky for long, as the Red Army occupied the country and took him away to be sentenced to a military trial. He was sentenced to four years of imprisonment in a Siberian gulag, left to starve and suffer from malnutrition and extreme cold.

### Return to Japan

In December 1949, Toshichi was finally released from prison and made his way home, suffering from physical and mental illnesses that had accumulated during his stay in Siberia. He spent his time reluctantly living out in the countryside, having to repay accumulated debts and deal with all the tragedies and startling changes that had occurred in Japan while he was away; not only had Hiroshima and Nagasaki been destroyed by the atomic bomb, but USA forces had occupied the country as well.

In 1954, Toshichi would request for Fujio to gain employment at the Ebisu chemical plant in Tokyo, though his son's dreams of being a professional manga artist would continue to grow. He would follow his son to the city in 1961, staying at Tokiwa-so for a time as his wife had, until his son would get married and depart, leaving the two to remain there a little longer. After his son established Fujio Pro in 1965, Toshichi was appointed as its accounting officer, getting to work alongside his son in a sense for many years.

### Later Years and Death

Toshichi happened to have some brushes with illness and death in the last decades of his life, first contracting tuberculosis in 1968 and being kept for a year and a half in the hospital due to his frail condition. Tragedy struck in 1970, when he and Riyo were caught in an accidental gas explosion at their home. While Toshichi was discharged safely, Riyo had retained a subarachnoid hemmorhage from the shock and was re-hospitalized, which soon ended in her death.

Toshichi would manage to write out his own autobiography, "The Memory of Star Frost", which he released on December 25, 1972. During his lifetime, he would write at least three books, though all became rare and out of print.

Sadly, on May 17, 1979, Toshichi would succumb to the effects of pancreatic cancer at the age of 71, after the disease quickly progressed through his body and made it hard for him to breathe or speak. Akatsuka would recall his final conversation with his father, who was barely able to say anything, amounting to "Father, it will be okay!" and receiving an answer of "Yes" before the man stopped breathing entirely.

## Works

* *The Memory of Star Frost* (December 25, 1972, Fujio Pro)