Issen Hage

Another of Tezuka’s fill-in cast, Issen Hage is a specialist at playing two-bit crooks and other ne’er-do-wells. Self-serving and lazy rather than actually evil, he usually finds himself in a supporting role, as a member of a band of crooks or a nameless henchman under the control of the primary villain – often Hamegg.

One of Tezuka’s older Stars, Issen Hage first appeared in the amateur work Old Man’s Treasure Island (1945). However he had to wait until Fossil Island (1951) to get his first gig in a commercial work. Although he has appeared in several of Tezuka’s manga tales, one of his most memorable roles was as “Peter Lorre” (named after the actor) in Age of Adventure (1951-53).

Issen Hage’s name is a compound of the Japanese words issen, a coin roughly equivalent to a penny, and hage which means “bald spot”. So, in English, his name would roughly translate to “Penny Baldspot”. It is worth noting that after the sen coins were taken out of circulation in Japan in 1953, he was also sometimes referred to “Ichi-en Hage” (lit. “one yen bald spot”). Either way, the pun remains intact.

As his name suggests, his most distinguishing feature is the small round white dot or “bald spot”, supposedly about the size of an issen coin, on the side of his head.

(Source: Tezuka In English)