Saito, who wrote and illustrated the series, died on Friday of pancreatic cancer, according to Shogakukan, the publisher of the anthology magazine “Big Comic” in which “Golgo 13” is serialized.
“We offer our heartfelt respect to Mr Saito’s achievement and offer our deep condolences,” Shogakukan said.
“We plan to continue Golgo 13 in cooperation with his staff, in accordance with his wishes,” it added.
Saito was born in Japan’s western Wakayama prefecture in 1936, and made his manga debut in 1955 with the title “Baron Air”.
The success of another of his works called “Typhoon Goro” in 1960 led him to move from Osaka to Tokyo to establish his own production company.
He was also one of the founders of “gekiga”, a realistic genre of manga aimed at adults which began in the 1950s.
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