Serialized between 1996 and 2000, Boat Life stars novelist Tsuda Kenta, a lightly veiled stand-in for the artist, Tsuge Tadao, himself, as he pursues a life of reprieve and reverie on a small, makeshift house boat on a river outside of Tokyo. Based loosely on the artist’s own daily life, this charming story follows the hapless protagonist on a series of magical absurdist quests, featuring a panoply of personable characters, including a drunkard fisherman, a pervy monk, a talking corpse, a senile hermit, and a half-supportive, half-doubtful wife and adult son. Most of the scenes take place on the Tonegawa River in Chiba, a favorite fishing spot of Tsuge’s. Others occur at the artist’s home or at Joker, a jeans and apparel shop the Tsuges opened in 1977.

Features a 27 page essay section including: Garo Gone Fishin’ by translator Ryan Holmberg, Days Fishing and Cartooning by Tsuge Tadao and Boat Dreams by Tsuge Tadao.

Tsuge Tadao is one of alternative manga’s cult stars. Debuting as a cartoonist in the rental kashihon market in 1959, he was a leading contributor to the legendary magazine Garo during its heyday in the late 1960s and ’70s.

/ᐠ . ｡.ᐟ\⊃━━☆ﾟ*･ˎˊ˗
📖 352 pp. 🖨 OFFSET
📏 15 x 21 cm. / 6 x 9 in. 
💬 ENGLISH

ARTIST ★ TADAO TSUGE (JAPAN) 
★ PUBLISHED BY FLOATING WORLD IN THE USA, 2022