Osamu Tezuka in Takadanobaba

Osamu Tezuka, considered the father of manga, was born in the neighborhood of Takadanobaba in 1928. Takadanobaba is a quiet student neighborhood in Tokyo located near Waseda University, north of Shinjuku. Tezuka lived practically all his live in Takadanobaba and the neighborhood appears sometimes in some of his works; for example in his manga Astro Boy, the main character was born in the “future” in the year 2003 in Takadanobaba. Tezuka Osamu died at the end of the 80s, but his work is still alive in Japan. In 2003, to celebrate the “birth” of Astro Boy, streets in Takadanobaba were decorated with murals to pay tribute to one of the most respected mangakas in history. The murals are permanent and you can see them if you visit the subway station (it’s only 5 minutes from Shinjuku using the Yamanote line)

Atmosphere next to the station.

Advertising of an academy to educate future movie animators.

When Yamanote trains stop at Takadanobaba station, the Astro Boy melody is played in the subway. In this video you can hear the song: