My co-workers Tomoko and Ayako had told me the bad news since last week. Originally, Mr. Usui was reported missing after not returning from his recent hike. Yesterday they found his corpse as per this news story.
Most Americans don’t know him but he’s creator of Shin-Chan, Japan’s version of Dennis the Menace. I’ve blathered about him before since I collect the little manga books of his adventures; they’re much funnier than the TV show on [Adult Swim]. Shin-Chan (which is a Japanese term of endearment for the name Shinnosuke like calling a kid named Edward, Teddy) is cruder than the American Dennis Mitchell yet (thankfully) not as sociopathic as Eric Cartman.
I’m going to miss Mr. Usui since his comic strip demonstrated that not all Japanese comics are about monsters, soap operas, giant robots and grown women wearing private-school outfits. They were little culture lessons because the American publisher/translator kept the Japanese elements intact: holidays, school traditions, etc.