QUOTE
Body found on Mount Arafune may be missing cartoonist Usui
MAEBASHI, Gunma Pref. (Kyodo) A body thought to be that of missing cartoonist Yosito Usui, the creator of "Crayon Shinchan," was found on a mountain straddling Gunma and Nagano prefectures Saturday morning, police said.
The body, which was found by a climber at the base of a steep cliff on Mount Arafune, will be recovered Sunday to determine if it is that of the 51-year-old cartoonist, who went missing Sept. 11, the police said.
Usui told his family he was going hiking on Mount Arafune that morning and would return to his home in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, by evening, the police said. His family reported him missing the next day.
The Saitama, Gunma and Nagano prefectural police forces have been conducting a joint search for him ever since.
Usui started drawing "Crayon Shinchan," the story of feisty kindergartner Shinnosuke Nohara and his family in Kasukabe, in a comic book published by Futabasha Publishers Ltd. in 1990. The popular cartoon series was adapted for both television and film.
The city of Kasukabe issued a special residence card to the Nohara family to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the municipality, and has also been using Shinchan as a mascot for its child-rearing campaign since April.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090920a9.html
MAEBASHI, Gunma Pref. (Kyodo) A body thought to be that of missing cartoonist Yosito Usui, the creator of "Crayon Shinchan," was found on a mountain straddling Gunma and Nagano prefectures Saturday morning, police said.
The body, which was found by a climber at the base of a steep cliff on Mount Arafune, will be recovered Sunday to determine if it is that of the 51-year-old cartoonist, who went missing Sept. 11, the police said.
Usui told his family he was going hiking on Mount Arafune that morning and would return to his home in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, by evening, the police said. His family reported him missing the next day.
The Saitama, Gunma and Nagano prefectural police forces have been conducting a joint search for him ever since.
Usui started drawing "Crayon Shinchan," the story of feisty kindergartner Shinnosuke Nohara and his family in Kasukabe, in a comic book published by Futabasha Publishers Ltd. in 1990. The popular cartoon series was adapted for both television and film.
The city of Kasukabe issued a special residence card to the Nohara family to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the municipality, and has also been using Shinchan as a mascot for its child-rearing campaign since April.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090920a9.html
I already read the news about his hiking accident a few days ago, but that doesn't make his confirmed death less depressing... I have Crayon Shin-chan Vol 1-48 at home, and it's a manga series that I have been collecting since age 8... My mom thinks it's a "bad" manga because of some of its sexual themes, but my brother and I still eventually collected nearly the whole set. It's depressing to learn that Shin-chan's stories will end like this...
Who else read this series?
