Nikkei Telecom | Corporate cartoon | Work-Life balance

Ayata Kunio (1931–2014) was an award-winning mangaka, cartoonist, illustrator, and designer, as well as an enthusiastic member of the Japan Pipe Smokers Club (JPSC).
As an active member of the Japan Cartoonists Association and the Manga Collective, Ayata contributed to numerous magazines and newspapers, including Asahi Graph, Literary Asahi, Weekly Sankei, Bungeishunjū, Weekly Yomiuri, Tokyo Weekly, Weekly Gendai, and many others.
He was renowned for his satirical cartoons, drawn in a highly distinctive style characterized by fluid linework. Even when accompanying sensational or degraded newspaper content, his drawings consistently upheld a sense of composure, dignity, and humanity.

As the son of a calligrapher, Ayata excelled with both pen and brush. His formative years spent in France and Italy gave his work a noticeably European technique and sensibility. This cultural blend may be what set him apart from both Japanese and European cartoonists of his generation. As Ayata himself once remarked:
“Even abroad, a mangaka doesn’t need language; with pen and paper, you are fine. If you want something, just draw it. But once I tried to get salt in a restaurant by drawing the sea, and it didn’t work. Later I realized Europeans use rock salt, not seawater.”
Although Ayata belonged to the Manga Collective, he was among the few artists who continued to master single-panel storytelling, creating works that were complete within a single image. In this respect, he stood closer to the manga artists of the “good old days,” such as Hidezō Kondō, rather than the later dominance of long-form narrative manga.
Ayata received numerous international honors, most notably at the Italy International Manga Salon, one of Europe’s major comics events at the time:
• 1974: Foreign Manga Artist Prize
• 1975: Imperial Prize
• 1976: Grand Prix
This sustained recognition over multiple years made him one of the few Japanese mangaka to be repeatedly honored in Italy.
Additional awards include:
• 1953: First Prize, Asahi Graph Manga School Contest
• 1978: Special Prize, World Cartoon Exhibition, Berlin, Germany


Nikkei Telecom is an information and data service launched in 1984 by ‘The Nikkei’, Japan’s leading business and financial newspaper publisher.
Nikkei Telecom provided professionals with rapid access to economic news, corporate data, and market intelligence via emerging telecommunications networks.
During its early years the service made use of visual communication and graphic design for promotional and informational purposes commissioning artists such as Ayata Kunio who could convey clarity, reliability and precision
Ayata’s involvement underscores his standing beyond editorial cartoons and his drawings, dating from 1984–85, illustrate complex concepts in his own distinctive style characterized by fluid linework and still a great sense of composure