is a comic book artist who wrote Kobo, the Li'l Rascal

Kobo, the Li'l Rascal

Kobo, the Li'l Rascal, also known as , is a manga created by Masashi Ueda. Kodansha published the book in a bilingual Japanese-English edition, and Kodansha America distributed the book in the United States....

(Kobo-chan).

Ueda began drawing comic book strips when he worked in his brother's cram school

Cram school

Cram schools are specialized schools that train their students to meet particular goals, most commonly to pass the entrance examinations of high schools or universities...

. Ueda began producing Furiten-kun

Furiten-kun

is a yonkoma manga series by Masashi Ueda which has been serialized in several magazine. In the early 1980s, the manga was published simultaneously in Takeshobo's Kindai Mahjong, Kindai Mahjong Original, and Gamble Punch. It was then published in Manga Life magazine from November 1984 to 1994...

, a comic book strip about a mahjong

Mahjong

Mahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...

 player, in 1979. In 1982 Ueda won the Bungeishunjū Manga Award

Bungeishunju Manga Award

The was an annual award established in 1955 and given out by Bungeishunjū in Japan for gag, yonkoma, one-panel, and satirical manga. The award was also given out for works considered the magnum opus of manga creators....

. During that year he began producing Kobo, the Li'l Rascal. In 1988, as part of the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 International Literacy Year he visited Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

 as a special commissioner. In 1999 the Japan Comic Artists Association awarded Ueda a prize.

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