The tragic and mysterious death of Yoshito Usui, creator of 'Shin-Chan'

Yoshito Usui is one of the best-known Japanese mangakas in history, thanks to 'Crayon Shin-chan', the conical, revolutionary manga and anime he created in 1990.

Cheeky, foul-mouthed and hilarious, Shin-chan and his friends became famous all over the world, making Yoshito Usui a global star.

Suddenly, fans across the world were shocked, on September 11, 2009: Yoshito Usui disappeared without a trace.

He was 51 years old and, that day, Yoshito Usui told his family that he was going to the area of ​​Mount Arafune to go hiking. It was the last time that he was seen or heard of.

Photo: 利用者:韋駄天 / Wikipedia

Two days later, the Gunma and Nagano police located his mobile signal, but it was lost two days later, without ever locating the owner.

Photo: Jon Flobrant / Unsplash

Finally, on September 20, 2011, after nine harrowing and dramatic days of searching, the lifeless body of Yoshito Usui was found 100 meters from the top of Mount Arafune.

Photo: Ashley Knedler / Unsplash

Some hikers who, quite by chance, found the corpse of Yoshito Usui. He had suffered a 120-meter fall, as the police reported at the time.

Photo: Tobias Mrzyk / Unsplash

Due to the complicated area where he fell, the rescue teams took a whole day to recover his body - they did so thanks to the intervention of a helicopter.

Photo: Seb Mooze/ Unsplash

The tragic death of Yoshito Usui prompted many questions about the way in which it happened. Was it an accident or was it caused by Yoshito Usui himself?

Photo: Tom Wheatley / Unsplash

A spokesman for the Futabasha publishing house, from whom Yoshito Usui wrote, assured that the death had been an unfortunate accident.

Photo: Katie McBroom / Unsplash

To support such a statement, they relied on the last image that appeared on Shin-chan's creator's digital camera, where the ravine could be seen.

However, sources close to Yoshito Usui said that the creator had changed in recent days. He had become sad and distant.

Japan Today was the source that published the words of a friend of Yoshito Usui's: "He was a man of few words, he was always observing and looking for ideas for his work. That's why I was shocked to hear him say that he didn't want to work anymore, that he had no will to write".

Photo: Pedro Araujo / Unsplash

This friend noted that the last time he saw Yoshito Usui "he seemed emotionally exhausted. When I heard the news of his disappearance, I really had this bad feeling."

As fate would have it, the year in which Yoshito Usui passed away, was the same year that Kasukabe, the city where he lived and where Shin-chan's day-to-day life took place, adopted the character as the image of the city.

Many years have passed since the death of Yoshito Usui and his death remains a mystery. Of course, his legacy is still strong and Shin-chan remains one of the most well-known animation works of Japanese manga and anime.