Toba Cojo

History of Manga
It has often been said that the "father" of manga is Rakuten Kitazawa, a 20th century manga-ka. However, the origins of manga go back much further than the 20th century.  Manga's humble beginnings date back to the 11th century where a Buddhist priest and painter named Toba Sojo, expressed his extremely whimsical sense of humor in what is known as animal scrolls or Choju Giga.  These paintings are often satirical and can be slapstick in nature and depicted a humorous focus on the Buddhist priesthood. Another feature of this period is that there were few words to go along with the action being depicted.
Another creator, Shimoboku Ooka, built upon Toba's Choju Giga and, instead, used an accordion style format for presenting the images.  However, like Toba, he used few words to go along with any action shown.
The term "manga" did not begin to be regularly used until the 19th century when Katsushika Hokusai, a floating wood pictures artist (known as ukiyo-e) coined the term to describe his drawings in his sketchbook.  He used the term "manga," meaning "playful sketches."
Modern manga was, again, influenced by Rakusen Kitazawa in the early 20th century.  There had been restrictions on such materials that were being lifted and this isolated country was beginning to see outside influences, such as those from the West, infiltrate Japanese society.  Needless to say, these influences of Western culture began to appear in the manga we know today.  Much of Rakusen's work is on display at the Omiya Municipal Cartoon Hall or Manga Kaiken.  Another influential early modern manga-ka, Ippei Okamoto, created Hito No Issho (Life of a Man).  His main contribution is the institutionalization of the manga-ka as artists by the creation of Nippon Mangakai, the first Japanese cartoonist society.
Manga in its current form mixes Western comic formats and style with Japanese ideas and ideals such as honor, pride, service, respect for elders and others, and humility, to name a few.  The person often most credited for what manga is today is Osamu Tezaka.  Manga enthusiasts should know that Osamu created the now-classic manga, Astro-Boy, in 1952, and it is still very popular today in Japan.  Astro-Boy memorabilia is still shown in many manga/anime fairs, such as the Tokyo Anime Fair in 2010, as it became the first anime or animation of a manga.  A US manga fan can often find Astro Boy either on e-Bay or can import this title through Amazon or through book chains such as Barnes and Noble and Borders, where there are locations on the Central Coast. Osamu's work greatly influenced the manga artistic styles of current manga-ka:  Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball series), Tite Kudo (Bleach), Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto), Kazuki Takahashi (Yu-Gi-Oh!), and Eiichiro Oda (One Piece) to name a few.