Sadao Tsukioka
Born May 15, 1939. Animation artist.
After graduating from a high school architecture program, Tsukioka became an assistant to Osamu Tezuka before starting his animation career at Toei Animation. At age 24, he directed Wolf Boy Ken, Toei Animation’s first TV anime series, also serving as original creator. He later co-founded the animation company NAC. In 1970, his short animation Genesis won the Grand Prix at the Kraków International Short Film Festival.
Over more than half a century of animation work, he also spent nearly 60 years teaching — as a special professor at Takarazuka University and a lecturer at Nihon University’s College of Art. In 2022, he received the Special Award at the 45th Japan Academy Film Prize.
He is currently serializing “Minmin & Bunbun,” a manga-style animated picture book, on Kindle.