Takashi Yanase (やなせ たかし, Yanase Takashi, February 6, 1919 – October 13, 2013) was a Japanese manga artist and writer, poet, illustrator and lyricist.
He is known as the creator of the picture book and animated series Anpanman. Yanase was chairman of the Japan Cartoonists Association from May 2000 to 2012.
After graduating from the Tokyo School of Arts and Crafts in 1939, Yanase was hired by Tokyo Tanabe Pharmaceuticals where he worked in the marketing department.
In 1941, he was drafted into the army under the 6th Field Heavy Artillery Reserve Company stationed in China. As an educated non-commissioned officer, he was assigned to senbu (psychological warfare) operations, presenting kamishibai (street theatre and storytelling) to Chinese civilians. His younger brother was killed in action during the Pacific Campaign of World War II.
Post-war, alongside other veterans, Yanase made a living collecting garbage. To pursue his artistic career, he joined Kōchi Shimbun newspaper as an editor in 1946. Once he learned that his co-worker, Nobu Komatsu, was quitting and relocating to Tokyo, Yanase did the same. They got married in 1947.
While working at Mitsukoshi department store as a graphic designer, Yanase would pick up drawing manga seriously, submitting his works to newspapers and magazines. Finding success, Yanase would quit to work on manga full-time in 1953. His income from manga was triple that of his department-store job.
The day after his death, an obituary in the October 16, 2013, edition of the Tokyo Shimbun reported that he was "a dandy Christian with a strong faith". However, a correction was later published in the November 20, 2013, edition of the same newspaper: "It was an error to refer to Takashi Yanase as a Christian".
Further supporting this correction were Yanase's own words in Gekkan Omoshihan No. 57, Special Feature: "No Need for Religion!", and "I don't have any religious beliefs at all. I'll probably never turn to religion.", and "I'm not religious at all, even though I respect religion and worship God in my own way. I'm not religious at all."
Photographs of his gravesite also show no evidence of him being a Christian. His gravesite lacks a cross, Bible verses, or other references to Jesus Christ and Christianity. He was cremated and buried at his father's former home, where he spent his early childhood. On his gravestone, a Japanese poem is engraved. Translated from Japanese, "I want to be a magnolia tree. In the season, bashful and shy, white flowers will bloom. I want to sway with the breeze."
Anpanman's Testament (アンパンマンの遺書, Anpanman no isho; February 1995)
Life Is Strange: Words to Live By (人生なんておかしいね 人生の言葉, Jinsei nante okashii ne Jinsei no kokoro; 1996 (Keibunsha), 2002 (Tachibana Shuppan))
Second Youth Is a Thrill! (痛快！第二の青春, Tsūkai! Dai-ni no seishun; August 2003)
Life Is But a Dream (人生なんて夢だけど, Jinsei nante yume da kedo; February 2005)
Anyone Can Be a Poet (だれでも詩人になれる本, Dare de mo shijin ni nareru hon; February 2009)
Life Gets Interesting at 90! (人生、90歳からおもしろい!, Jinsei, kyūjussai kara omoshiroi!; July 2009)
If I Were to Talk About Justice (わたしが正義について語るなら, Watashi ga seigi ni tsuite kataru nara; December 2009)
Next to Despair Lies Hope! (絶望の隣は希望です!, Zetsubō no tonari wa kibō desu!; September 2011) – written in response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The Gentle Lion (やさしいライオン, Yasashii Raion; 1969 (serialized)/1975 (released); English translation by Shauna Rosgen, April 2008)