Akira Toriyama, the manga artist behind popular series like Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball, died of a subdural hematoma on March 1, 2024. The press release announcing Akira’s passing stated that ‘he still had several works in the middle of creation with great enthusiasm’.
Akira Toriyama’s wife, Yoshimi Kato, helped create the Dragon Ball manga series
Yoshimi and Akira reportedly met at a high school in Nagoya, Japan. They married on May 2, 1982, and went on to welcome a son, Sasuke, and a daughter, Kikka.
Manga writing runs in the family. Akira is a former manga artist who released creative work under multiple aliases, including Mikami Nachi and Yoshihime. She helped write Dr. Slump and assisted Akira in creating Dragon Ball. Yoshimi was influential in convincing Akira to publish the manga and helped develop characters and signature attacks.