Tokiwa-sō

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Tokiwa-sō (トキワ荘, Tokiwa-sō^?) was an apartment where Osamu Tezuka and many young manga artists once lived before they became famous. Tokiwa-sō was a small, inexpensive apartment in Toshima-ku, Tokyo. Residents included Shotaro Ishinomori, Fujio Akatsuka, and Fujiko Fujio (both of the duo). It existed as a sort of atelier from from 1952 to 1982.

The business of manga production today in Japan has a prototype in the collaborative activities pioneered at Tokiwa-sō. According to Fujiko F. Fujio (one of the duo of Fujiko Fujio), who was an assistant of Osamu Tezuka in earliest days, Osamu Tezuka first introduced this production system employing many assistants to make manga, in order to meet the deadlines of publishing in weekly manga magazines. This model of several assistants helping a main artist is still used today, providing young manga artists with the training for professional manga artists on the own.