Monkey Punch

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title: "Monkey Punch" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["lupin-the-third", "academic-staff-of-otemae-university", "manga-artists-from-hokkaido", "1937-births", "2019-deaths", "deaths-from-pneumonia-in-japan", "inkpot-award-winners", "pseudonymous-comics-artists", "20th-century-pseudonymous-writers", "21st-century-pseudonymous-writers", "hamanaka,-hokkaido"] description: "Japanese manga artist (1937–2019)" topic_path: "society/education" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_Punch" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Japanese manga artist (1937–2019) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Monkey Punch
image	Monkey Punch cropped 1 Shinji Mizushima Machiko Satonaka Tetsuo Saito Tetsuya Chiba and Monkey Punch 20090906.jpg
caption	Monkey Punch in 2009
birth_name	Kazuhiko Katō
birth_date
birth_place	Hamanaka, Hokkaido, Japan
death_date
death_place	Sakura, Chiba, Japan
other_names	Monkey Punch, Eiji Gamuta
occupation	Manga artist, writer, professor
years_active	1962–2019
notable_works	Lupin III
website
awards	Inkpot Award (1981)
::

| name = Monkey Punch | image = Monkey Punch cropped 1 Shinji Mizushima Machiko Satonaka Tetsuo Saito Tetsuya Chiba and Monkey Punch 20090906.jpg | imagesize = | caption = Monkey Punch in 2009 | birth_name = Kazuhiko Katō | birth_date = | birth_place = Hamanaka, Hokkaido, Japan | death_date = | death_place = Sakura, Chiba, Japan | other_names = Monkey Punch, Eiji Gamuta | occupation = Manga artist, writer, professor | years_active = 1962–2019 | genre = | notable_works = Lupin III | education = | alma_mater = | website = | awards = Inkpot Award (1981) | signature = Kazuhiko Katō, known by the pen name Monkey Punch, was a Japanese manga artist, best known for his series Lupin III.

Life and career

Katō was born in Hamanaka, Hokkaido; he began drawing at a very young age, but did not draw manga until junior high school, when his manga strips were used in the school newspaper. After graduating, he moved to Tokyo to look for work and began going to a technical school for electronics, continuing to draw for fun. While working in a dōjinshi group with other artists, he was recruited by Futabasha and drew yonkoma. He was an assistant to Naoki Tsuji on Zero-sen Hayato and Tiger Mask.

Lupin III made its debut on August 10, 1967, in the first issue of the magazine Weekly Manga Action; the cover was also drawn by Monkey Punch. It went on to become an extremely popular and successful media franchise, spawning numerous manga, six animated television series, seven animated feature films, two live-action films, three OVAs, near-yearly television specials since 1989, music CDs, video games, and a musical. Monkey Punch himself even directed the 1996 film, Dead or Alive.

In April 2005, he became the professor of Manga and Animation at Otemae University, in its Faculty of Media and Arts, and was a visiting professor at Tokyo University of Technology in May 2010.

On April 21, 2007, Monkey Punch participated in a series of lectures on the "interaction of manga and culture throughout the world" at the Freer Gallery of Art. In 2008, Monkey Punch was a judge at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Second International Manga Awards.

He designed the characters for the pachinko game CR Ginroku Gijinden Roman in 2012. The following year an anime adaptation of the game began airing on January 7, 2013, with Monkey Punch's designs adapted by Satoshi Hirayama, and was streamed with English subtitles on Crunchyroll.

Monkey Punch participated in the writing of the 2014 live-action film adaptation of Lupin III.

Personal life and death

Monkey Punch resided in Sakura, Chiba, until his death. He died on April 11, 2019, due to pneumonia.

Pen name

Katō first started to work as a professional manga artist, under the pen name Kazuhiko Katō. In 1965, he made his debut with Playboy School, writing under the name of Eiji Gamuta. The editor of the magazine that "discovered him" then suggested the pen name Monkey Punch. Katō claims that he did not like the name, but agreed because it was his boss's idea and his next series was only supposed to be a three-month project. When the series, Lupin III, became popular, he was stuck with the name.

Katō's younger brother, Teruhiko, worked as his assistant on Lupin III. For years it was widely believed that the pen name Monkey Punch referred to the two brothers working together as a creative duo, but in a 2017 interview they clarified that this idea stemmed from a mistaken magazine article, and that the name Monkey Punch should be understood to refer exclusively to the older brother Kazuhiko, who did all of the main creative work concerning the characters, story, and the main drawings. The younger brother Teruhiko explained that he was exclusively doing assistant work.

Style

Monkey Punch has stated that Osamu Tezuka was the reason he wanted to become a manga artist. He acknowledged the influence Mad magazine artist Mort Drucker had on his work.

Awards

He received the Inkpot Award in 1981 and a special Tokyo Anime Award in 2015.

List of works

1960s

• 1962
  • Number 5 + α
  • Gun Hustler
  • Rebellious Child
  • List the Criminal
  • Open Homicide
  • Clandestine Work
  • The Man Who Does Not Have a Shadow
  • The Person Whom It Uses
  • Vengeance (Fukushu) as Kazuhiko Katō
  • Ghost Story Guy as Kazuhiko Katō
• 1965
  • Playboy School as Eiji Gamuta
  • Needless Axle of Wilderness
  • Pink Guard Man ... Blues of the Assassin (Pinku Gado Man ... Hissatsu no Burusu)
  • Outsider (Autosaida Monkey Punch)
• 1967
  • The Ginza Whirlwind Child (Ginza Senpuji)
  • Lupin III
• 1968
  • Western Samurai (Uesutan Samurai)
• 1969
  • Pandora

1970s

• 1970
  • Spy Nobility (Supai Shinzoku)
  • Document Mania (Dokyumento Kyo)
  • Lupin III Other Stories
  • Tac Tics
• 1971
  • Multi (Maruchi)
  • Mysterious Jaguarman (Kaijin Jagaman)
  • New Adventures of Lupin III
• 1972
  • The Siamese Cat
  • Makao
  • Monsieur Koga
  • Key
• 1973
  • Sufficiently Motivated (Yaruki Jubun)
  • Decoy House Slug (Kikuya Namekuji)
  • Venus of Diamond (Daia no Binasu)
• 1974
  • I Am Casanova (Ore wa Kazanoba)
  • Color Girl (Kara Garu)
  • Isshuku Ippan (一宿一飯)
  • Lupin the Kid
• 1976
  • Little Dracula (Dorakyura-kun)
  • Up-Up Balloon (UP-UP Barun)
• 1977
  • New Lupin III
  • The Reverse Aesop's Fables
  • Transparent Gentleman (Tomei Shinshi)
• 1978
  • Time Agent (Jikan Ejento)
  • Kaiketsu Zero

1980s

• 1980
  • Cinderella Boy
  • Boy
  • Botchan (anime, character design)
• 1981
  • Hauler Holmes
• 1982
  • Space Adventure Team Mechabunger (Uchū Bōken-tai Mekabanja)
  • Another work from Cinderella Boy.
• 1983
  • Roller Boy (Rora Boi)
  • Lucky Monkey (Raki Monki)
• 1984
  • Sexy Lupin III
  • The English Conversation Maneuvers of Lupin III
• 1986
  • Pinky Punky
  • Dirty Joke
  • Robot Baseball Team Galacters

1990s

• 1991
  • Monkey Punch no Sekai: Alice (December 13)
  • Scramble Saver Kids
• 1996
  • Lupin III: Dead or Alive
• 1997
  • One Thousand and One Nights' Story (Senya Ichiya Monogatari)
  • Mankatsu
  • Musashi -Way of the Gun-

2000s

• 2004
  • Mankatsu (anime)

2010s

• 2013
  • Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman

References

References

1. "Interview: Monkey Punch". [[Anime News Network]].
2. (January 1995). "A Few Stolen Moments with Monkey Punch". [[Antarctic Press]].
3. "ルーザーズ ～日本初の週刊青年漫画誌の誕生～".
4. "Otemae University – Manga Production Department, Faculty of Media and Arts (Major)". [[Otemae University]].
5. "Mangaka punches above his weight". [[Yomiuri Shimbun]].
6. "Tokyo University of Technology – Faculty of media". [[Tokyo University of Technology]].
7. ""Manga to Anime: From Astro Boy to Spirited Away" at the Smithsonian". [[Anime News Network]].
8. "Lau Wan Kit's Feel 100% Wins 2nd Int'l Manga Award". [[Anime News Network]].
9. "Monkey Punch's Roman Phantom Thief Game Gets TV Anime". [[Anime News Network]].
10. "Crunchyroll to Stream Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman TV Anime". [[Anime News Network]].
11. (November 27, 2013). "'Lupin III' to get a live-action film adaptation starring Oguri Shun". Tokyohive.
12. link
13. "モンキー・パンチさんが死去 {{!}} 2019/4/17(水)".
14. (April 16, 2019). "Lupin III Creator Monkey Punch Passes Away".
15. Boucher, Geoff. (April 17, 2019). "Monkey Punch, Manga Artist And Creator Of 'Lupin III,' Dead at 81". Deadline Hollywood.
16. Yadao, Jason S.. (October 1, 2009). "The Rough Guide to Manga". Penguin.
17. "Lupin III Manga Author Monkey Punch Passes Away at Age of 81". [[Crunchyroll]].
18. "Lupin III's Monkey Punch, More Win TAAF's Meritorious Service Award". [[Anime News Network]].
19. (4 August 2014). "Monkey Punch's 'Bōtchan': Laugh, It's a Classic".

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