Ken Akamatsu | |
|---|---|
赤松 健 | |
.jpg) Akamatsu at Japan Expo 2015 | |
| Member of the House of Councillors | |
| Assumed office July 26, 2022 | |
| Constituency | Proportional |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 5, 1968 Nagoya, Aichi, Japan |
| Political party | Liberal Democratic |
| Spouse | Kanon Akamatsu |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Chuo University |
| Occupation | Manga artist, politician |
| Known for | Love Hina, Negima! Magister Negi Magi, UQ Holder! |
| Awards |
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| Years active | 1993–present |
| Signature |  |
| Website | kenakamatsu |
Ken Akamatsu (赤松 健, Akamatsu Ken, born July 5, 1968) is a Japanese manga artist and politician who has served since 2022 as a member of the House of Councillors. He made his professional manga debut in 1993, and is best known as the author of Love Hina (1998–2001) and Negima! Magister Negi Magi (2003–2012), both serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine; a sequel to Negima!, UQ Holder!, was serialized from 2013 to 2022. In 2011, Akamatsu founded J-Comi (now Manga Library Z), a free digital distributor of out-of-print manga.
Akamatsu has been a managing director of the Japan Cartoonists Association since 2018, and is a vocal advocate for protecting freedom of expression in manga and anime from expansions in censorship and copyright law. In the 2022 Japanese House of Councillors election, he won a seat as a candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party in the national proportional representation block on a free expression platform, becoming the first manga creator in the National Diet.