Japanese manga artist Mizuki dies

Award-winning Japanese cartoonist Shigeru Mizuki, known for his comics of ghosts and monsters inspired by folklore and for his accounts of World War II horrors, died Monday at 93, his office said. Mizuki, whose real name was Shigeru Mura, was hospitalised in early November after he collapsed in Tokyo, the office said on its website. He underwent surgery but died Monday morning of multiple organ failure in hospital, it said.
The native of Tottori prefecture in western Japan began his career as a cartoonist after surviving World War II during which the conscripted Japanese soldier lost his left arm in a US air strike. Mizuki had enjoyed widespread popularity for decades since the release of his "GeGeGe no Kitaro" comics - called manga in Japan - depicting battles between the hero monster Kitaro and rival spirits and ghosts. His works also covered the horror of war based on his battlefield experiences in New Britain island, now part of Papua New Guinea, and the harsh treatment common soldiers received from their superior officers.