Born on April 5, 1955, Akira Toriyama was a celebrated Japanese manga artist and character designer, known for ‘Dr. Slump.’
Before entering the manga world, Toriyama spent three years at an ad agency designing posters before joining a magazine contest.
In 1981, Toriyama won the Shogakukan Manga Award for best shonen manga with ‘Dr. Slump’, selling over 35 million copies in Japan.
Besides ‘Dragon Ball’, Toriyama is also renowned for ‘Sand Land’, ‘Dragon Quest’, and ‘Chrono Trigger’, captivating manga, anime, video game lovers.
Toriyama inherited his passion for cars and motorcycles from his father, who briefly ran an auto repair shop.
He kept various pets, including birds, dogs, cats, fish, lizards, and bugs, which often inspired characters in his works.
Toriyama's lifelong passion for plastic models led him to design for Fine Molds. He also collected autographs from manga artists.