Japan Cartoonists Association

For a long time in Japan, there were no professional associations for cartoonists to interact with each other or to negotiate with the government or foreign countries, and there were only groups of individual cartoonists with joint production characteristics, such as the "Manga Group" and the "Dokuritsu Manga School. Isao Kojima of the "Dokuritsu Manga School" thought that "cartoonists from all fields should get together and create an environment where they can recognize each other through social activities and feel secure as artists" and "I wanted to create an association where they could at least join health insurance. In the summer of 1964, he approached Yoshiro Kato, Eijiro Shiota, and Fuyuhiko Okabe of the Manga Group for advice. The Manga Group brought Tatsumi Nishikawa, who had a businessman's background and administrative skills, to Kojima, and eventually they were able to hold a founding meeting on December 15 of the same year.[7]

In 1965, the board of directors established the Health Insurance Department, Taxation Department, Bulletin Department, Copyright Department, and Overseas Department; in 1966, the Planning Department was added; in 1985, the Planning Department was renamed the Business Department, the Bulletin Department the Public Relations Department, and the General Affairs Department was created. Kojima recalls that, on association business, he and the copyright holders went to protest against companies that manufactured character products without permission, and that he accompanied cartoonists who had suffered non-payment of manuscript fees to the publishers.[1][7]