Fuku-chan

• Name — Fuku-chan • Ja Kanji — フクちゃん • Genre — Comedy

• Type — manga • Author — Ryūichi Yokoyama • Publisher — Asahi Shimbun • First — October 1936 • Last — 1971

• Type — tv series • Director — Mineo Fuji • Writer — Masaki Tsuji Toshiyuki Kashiwakura Noboru Shiroyama Hiroko Naka • Music — Hiroshi Tsutsui • Studio — Shin-Ei Animation • Network — ANN (TV Asahi) • First — 1982 11 1 • Last — 1984 3 27 • Episodes — 71 • Illustration — Bus depicting Fuku-chan character Fuku-chan (フクちゃん) is a manga series by Ryūichi Yokoyama. The yonkoma series appeared in Japanese newspapers from 1936 to 1971, making it one of the longest-running Japanese comic strip series. During the Second World War, three films about Fuku-chan were made for propaganda purposes and in 1982 they were adapted into an anime television series. The character became the mascot of Waseda University.

The series' protagonist is the five-year-old street boy Fukuo “Fuku-chan” Fuchida, who mostly plays pranks on the people around him. Recurring characters include Fuku-chan's friend Kumi, playmate Namiko and her younger brother Kiyo, the cheeky twins Doshako and Garako, and Ganchan, who always annoys the other children at preschool.

The character first appeared in Yokoyama's older series Edokko Ken-chan, where he appeared several times as a mischievous street boy and soon became more popular than the main character. Therefore, the Fuku-chan series started as a spin-off in the Asahi Shimbun in October 1936. It was published throughout the war and was only discontinued in 1971. During the war, some changes were made to conform to propaganda, for example, a "Forward!" was added to the title. In the post-war period, the illustrator was reprimanded by censors for his depiction of Americans with red noses.

• Character — Japanese dub • Fuku-chan — Chika Sakamoto • Kiyo-chan — Reiko Katsura • Kumi-chan — Yōko Kuri

The TV series' music was composed by Hiroshi Tsutsui. The opening song is Boku, Fuku-chan dai! by Chika Sakamoto.