Sazae-san

Sazae-san
Cover of the eleventh volume of the manga, depicting the lead character Sazae riding a horse with her little sister Wakame.
サザエさん
GenreSlice of Life
Manga
Written byMachiko Hasegawa
Published byAsahi Shimbun
English publisher
MagazineFukunichi Shinbun
Asahi Shimbun, etc.
Original runApril 22, 1946February 21, 1974
Volumes68 (6,477 comic strips)
Anime television series
Produced byKouya Watanabe (2016–)
Youichi Tanaka (2016–)
Music byNobuyoshi Koshibe
Kunihiro Kawano
StudioEiken
Original networkFuji TV
Original run October 5, 1969 (1969-10-05) – present
Episodes2,771

Sazae-san (Japanese: サザエさん) is a Japanese yonkoma manga series written and illustrated by Machiko Hasegawa. It was first published in Hasegawa's local paper, the Fukunichi Shinbun (フクニチ新聞), on April 22, 1946. When the Asahi Shimbun wished to have Hasegawa draw the four-panel comic for their paper, she moved to Tokyo in 1949 with the explanation that the main characters had moved from Kyūshū to Tokyo as well. The first Sazae-san strip run by the Asahi Shimbun was published on November 30, 1949. The manga dealt with everyday life and contemporary situations in Tokyo until Hasegawa retired and ended the series, with the final comic published on February 21, 1974.

As of 1999, the manga had over 86 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time.[1] An anime television adaptation by TCJ (later renamed Eiken) began airing in Japan in October 1969 and holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-running animated television series.[2] It has also been adapted into a radio show, theatrical plays and songs.[3]

  1. ^ Shimizu, Isao (1999). 図説・漫画の歴史. Kawade Shobō Shinsha. pp. 111–112. ISBN 978-4309726113.
  2. ^ "Guinness Certifies Sazae-san as Longest Running Animated Show – News". Anime News Network. 2013-09-05. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  3. ^ "Machiko Hasegawa". lambiek.net.