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Manga Creator Kei Aoyama Passes Away at 32

The television station TBS is reporting that manga creator Kei Aoyama was found dead, hung from his neck, in the bathroom of his Tokyo apartment on October 9. He was 32.

There were no visible signs of wounds or a struggle in the bathroom, and the last posts on Aoyama's Twitter account, dated October 6, discussed mortality, including a final post that said:

Well, I have much left to do and much I dreamed of doing, but I hardly have any "regrets." I am content with the 32 years I have lived.

The police are investigating Aoyama's death as a possible suicide. The police had received an emergency call around 9:00 p.m. on October 9 from a person at the Japanese publisher Kodansha, who said, "We haven't been able to contact Mr. Aoyama." The police rushed to Aoyama's apartment, where they discovered him in the bathroom.

Aoyama was serializing the manga Yoiko no Mokushiroku in Kodansha's Evening magazine from last year to the time of his passing. He also created or drew the manga SWWEEET in Shogakukan's Monthly Ikki magazine, China Girl, and Strobe Light. According to the police investigation, Kodansha was not able to contact Aoyama since October 6.

Source: TBS News via Yaraon!, Sankei

Update: More information added.