Society
Italian PM Meloni Meets Fist of the North Star Creator Tetsuo Hara - Manga as Cultural Diplomacy
On 16 January 2026, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met Tetsuo Hara, the artist behind Fist of the North Star, in Tokyo during her official visit to Japan. She had turned 49 the day before, and Hara gave her a print of Kenshiro and Raoh. A look at Hara's Uffizi commission, the manga's role in Weekly Shonen Jump's rise, and why Italy never let go of Ken il Guerriero.