11 Facts About Machiko Hasegawa

Machiko Hasegawa was a Japanese manga artist and one of the first female manga artists.

Machiko Hasegawa started her own comic strip, Sazae-san, in 1946.

All of her comics were printed in Japan in digest comics; by the mid-1990s, Machiko Hasegawa's estate had sold over 60 million copies in Japan alone.

Machiko Hasegawa was born January 30,1920, in Taku, Saga Prefecture.

Machiko Hasegawa's comics were the first to follow a consistent four-panel layout, which later became the standard.

Machiko Hasegawa never married, instead living with her older sister Mariko.

Machiko Hasegawa died of heart failure on May 27,1992, at the age of 72.

Machiko Hasegawa was involved in a court case with a bus company's unapproved use of Sazae-san and its characters in promotional images, as well as the name of the business, "Sazae-san Tours".

Machiko Hasegawa won the 8th Bungeishunju Manga Award for Sazae-san in 1962.

Machiko Hasegawa was the first female manga artist to receive Japan's Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon in 1982.

Machiko Hasegawa received the 4th Tokyo Cultural Award in 1988; the Order of the Precious Crown, Fourth Class in 1990; the Minister of Education Award for Sazae-san at the 20th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards in 1991; the 10th People's Honor Award in 1992; and the Special Prize at the 24th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizes in 2020.