Kankichi Ryotsu

Kamedas (1993)

In 1993, Kamedas (こちら葛飾区亀有公園前派出所大全集), a collection devoted to Kochikame, was published. It includes a section of illustrated messages from manga artists, mostly from Weekly Shonen Jump, titled “われら両さん党！！”. Tetsuo Hara drew Ryotsu there in the style of Fist of the North Star, in the foreground, flanked by a man in a uniform cap and a blonde woman. A collector’s blog places this drawing in this first volume of Kamedas, while another places it in Kamedas 2, published in 2001. Around 2005, the programme Trivia no Izumi (Fuji TV) showed it alongside those of other artists, under the caption “原哲夫が描いた「両津勘吉」”.

Cho Kochikame (2006)

For the series’ 30th anniversary, Shueisha published Cho Kochikame (超こち亀) on 15 September 2006, in which 88 manga artists contributed 85 tribute pages. Hara, then the artist of Soten no Ken, drew on page 244 a Ryotsu with folded arms next to Kenshiro Kasumi, in a kimono with a cigarette between his lips, who marvels at his size (“この両さんでかくね!?”). In his message, he congratulated Akimoto, thanked him for his help back when he was publishing in Jump, and recalled the taste of the spare ribs Akimoto had treated him to.