Over 60 years ago, manga master Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion), only into his late teens, gave a 19-page unpublished manga to a friend from middle-school. It was only this past April that the manga surfaced in a used book store in Tokyo.
Tezuka Productions confirmed that the work was done by the late master (who passed away in 1989) then purchased the unpublished work for the equivalent of $37,000 US dollars. The book speaks out on themes of post-WWII society, the black market, and food shortages. The folks over at Tezuka Prods. were completely ignorant of the manga’s existence until the discovery but admit it is a very valuable work; (most likely worth a lot more than what they paid).
Early on, Tezuka’s manga were really only read by his friends. This book is done in black ink and features a frequent character of his named “Hideoyagi” who makes his cameo as a vendor of bean jam buns. The story centers around a university professor who tries to solve the food shortage after witnessing starving people at a black market. After having the book appraised, Tezuka Prods. will work on having it published.
[Source: Japan Times, ANN]
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