Image: 2026 The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.
AMBot | 05/15/2026 | Reading Time: 2 Min.
On the YouTube channel History Channel, a video of a press conference held by Osamu Tezuka in 1983 at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan was released. The recording shows the manga creator during the serialization of his work "Message to Adolf" (Japanese: "Adorufu ni tsugu").
In the conference, Tezuka expressed criticism of the state of the Japanese manga industry at that time: "To put it plainly, I think we are in the same state as Japan, isolated from the outside world. More and more manga are appearing that are deeply rooted in the Japanese national psyche. What I wish for most is for an Akira Kurosawa to emerge in the Japanese manga world."
On the topic of self-censorship in writing, he stated: "If you are pressured from above, you just have to fight for freedom of speech." He expressed hope that this would no longer be necessary in the 21st century: "I want to address international understanding among peoples." Additionally, Tezuka spoke about his considerations while working on "Message to Adolf."
A special highlight of the video is an illustration that Tezuka created—he drew the robot boy Atom from "Astro Boy" with the question: "What if an American were to draw him?" The press conference is part of the documentary series "Testimony of the Times – What Was Said on That Day" about the topic of freedom of speech and taboos.
In the conference, Tezuka expressed criticism of the state of the Japanese manga industry at that time: "To put it plainly, I think we are in the same state as Japan, isolated from the outside world. More and more manga are appearing that are deeply rooted in the Japanese national psyche. What I wish for most is for an Akira Kurosawa to emerge in the Japanese manga world."
On the topic of self-censorship in writing, he stated: "If you are pressured from above, you just have to fight for freedom of speech." He expressed hope that this would no longer be necessary in the 21st century: "I want to address international understanding among peoples." Additionally, Tezuka spoke about his considerations while working on "Message to Adolf."
A special highlight of the video is an illustration that Tezuka created—he drew the robot boy Atom from "Astro Boy" with the question: "What if an American were to draw him?" The press conference is part of the documentary series "Testimony of the Times – What Was Said on That Day" about the topic of freedom of speech and taboos.
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This article was originally published in German. It was translated with technical support and editorially reviewed before publication.
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