To celebrate Weekly Shonen Jump‘s 25th anniversary, Shueisha decided to create a new style event to promote it’s history for the fans. The name of the event was called “Weekly Jump Multi World” and was a exhibition that was held in the Tokyo Dome Prism Hall between July 28th through August 15th, 1993. The event cost 700 yen for admission and guests were able to receive as special booklet which highlighted some of the items on display. The booklet was never available for sale directly. Over 48 authors provided new illustrations and congratulatory messages for this anniversary and are documented in this booklet and this is one of them. To help provide context to this profile that was captured in 1993, we have included some additional information to supplement the transcription and rough English translation.
| Name | Osamu Akimoto (秋本治) |
| Date of Birth | December 11, 1952 |
| Birthplace | Tokyo |
| Blood Type | A |
| Debut Work | “Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen-mae Hashutsujo” (oneshot) 『こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所』(読み切り) |
| 1st Jump Serialization | “Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen-mae Hashutsujo” 『こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所』 |
| Additional Info | In addition to “Kochikame”, there is the spy-action series “Mr. Clice” and human drama series “Hanada Tomekichi Shichitenhattō.” 『こち亀』の他、スパイ・アクションの『Mr. Clice』や人情ドラマ『花田留吉七転八倒』シリーズなどが代表作。 |
Osamu Akimoto provided the following comment about the Weekly Shonen Jump‘s 25th anniversary, which have been roughly translated below:
創刊25周年おめでとうございます。私が少年ジャンプに連載が決まり、初めて掲載されたのが、たしか少年ジャンプが創刊8周年の頃だと思います。現在より連載作品の数は少なく、さらに編集者の人数も連載作品より少なかったです。しかし作家、編集者一人一人がパワフルで熱気がありました。少人数ゆえに一致団結し、作品作りに闘志を燃やし、編集者、作家の垣根を越えて少年ジャンプを支えていた気がします。現在でもその情熱は変わりません。
これからも編集スタッフ全員、一丸となったチームワークで前進して行って下さい。
Congratulations on the 25th anniversary. I believe it was around the 8th anniversary of Shonen Jump when it was decided I would be serialized in Shonen Jump and had my first work published. Back then, there were fewer serialized works than there is now, and even fewer editors. However, every single person was just as powerful and passionate. I think that because we were a small group, we were united, and had that fiery fighting spirit in creating stories that went beyond what Shonen Jump was thought to be. That passion hasn’t changed to this day.
I hope that all of the editorial staff will continue to propel us forward together.
As part of the celebration Osamu Akimoto provided this shikishi for the 25th anniversary:
Additionally he drew a 4-panel manga which was enlarged and shown on display at the Jump Multi World event in 1993. A rough English translation of the manga is included below:
Panel 1:
Box: “Friendship”
“Since we’re all great friends, we all in this together!”
“Yeah.”
Panel 2:
Box: “Effort”
“Lend me some cash! Please! I’ll pay you back double.”
“Just 10,000 yen a person! It’ll be very helpful!”
Panel 3:
Box: “Victory”
“Yahoo! Jackpot on the horse race!”
“Get your payout! Everyone! Come and get it!”
Panel 4:
“This feels like pretty much the same thing I would have done…”
Paper: “Politicians Collecting Money From Corporation Accused Of Stealing” “Securities Companies Have Huge Profits! Over 100 Victims”
“What’s wrong? Senpai?”
“It’s rare to see him read a newspaper that isn’t about horse racing.”
Surrounding the artwork on the page is a couple of comments from the editorial staff. In the yellow box, they compare the earlier version of Ryōtsu, where his face was less round and had more of a gekiga-style. The lower one is the current version (as of 1993). They comment that his face is rounder but his hijinks have escalated. In the festival illustration it notes that there are over 1000 characters in the series and that there is over 800 chapters.
On the last page, it after a short summary of the series, it notes that Osamu Akimoto has never taken a break from the weekly serialization. Starting in March 1993, the compilation volume of these stories began release in the title Kamedas (カメダス). Lastly it noted that up until issue 40 in 1978, he used the pen name Tatsuhiko Yamadome (山止たつひこ).
By the end of 1993, in issue #52 the Kochikame series had 857 chapters published. As of 2021, the series has had 201 volumes published. Since the series ended in 2016, a new chapter is released about once a year. The 1968th chapter was released in issue 36-37 in 2024.
