During his long career, Katou earned such merits as the San Diego Comic Convention’s INKPOT Award, the Rome Comic Festival ROMICS d’Oro Award, the AMD Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Tokyo Anime Award Lifetime Achievement Award.
Born in Hamanakka, Hokkaido, Japan on May 26, 1937, Katou began his long career as a manga author in 1965, when his series Playboy School was published in Futabasha’s Manga Story magazine.
It is with a heavy heart that we report that manga author and Lupin III creator Kazuhiko Katou, better known internationally under his pen name “Monkey Punch”, has passed away at the age of 81.