[/floatl]Kyodo: Paper cartoon serialized for longest period ends
A serialized cartoon carried in a Japanese newspaper for the longest period ever reached its last installment on Thursday at 15,451. "Honobono-Kun" initially appeared in the Tokyo Shimbun on and off since 1956, depicting mainly tender interactions between children and small animals, and six national papers also carry the cartoon, sometimes dubbed the Japanese version of Charlie Brown. The Tokyo Shimbun announced on the front page of its Thursday morning editions that Kimihiko Tsukuda, a 77-year-old cartoonist, has decided to leave the work as Parkinson's disease has disabled him to paint with a brush. "This serialization has made me aware that even my cartoon could give hope and happiness to people," Tsukuda said in his message to the newspaper readers.
