Naohisa Inoue (井上 直久, Inoue Naohisa; born in 1948 in Osaka, Japan) is a fantasy artist influenced by both the…
Naohisa Inoue (井上 直久, Inoue Naohisa; born in 1948 in Osaka, Japan) is a fantasy artist influenced by both the Surrealism and Impressionism movements. Most of his paintings are set in the fantastical land of Iblard (イバラード, Ibarādo). He created reference and background art for the Studio Ghibli film Whisper of the Heart and also provided a cameo appearance as the voice of Minami. More recently, his works were given a more direct adaptation in the short film The Day I Harvested a Star (星をかった日, Hoshi o Katta Hi) which is shown exclusively at the Ghibli Museum. He directed the 2007 OVA Iblard Jikan, produced by Studio Ghibli. Inoue is currently a professor at Seian University of Art and Design. He attended the Kanazawa College of Art from 1971 to 1973.
Famous Japanese People: Illustrator
Illustrator: 141 people
Hiroshi Nagai (Japanese: 永井博, born December 22, 1947) is a Japanese graphic designer and illustrator, known for his…
Hiroshi Nagai (Japanese: 永井博, born December 22, 1947) is a Japanese graphic designer and illustrator, known for his cover designs of city pop albums in the 1980s, which established the recognizable visual aesthetic associated with the loosely defined music genre.
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Japanese: 安彦 良和, Hepburn: Yasuhiko Yoshikazu; born December 9, 1947) is a Japanese animator, manga…
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (Japanese: 安彦 良和, Hepburn: Yasuhiko Yoshikazu; born December 9, 1947) is a Japanese animator, manga artist, and anime director. He is best known for being the character designer and animation director of the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime, which began in 1979. That same year, he began working as a manga artist, which had been his dream since childhood. His manga have been critically acclaimed and have won numerous awards.
Eiji Mitooka (水戸岡 鋭治, Mitooka Eiji; born 5 July 1947 in Okayama Prefecture) is a Japanese industrial designer…
Eiji Mitooka (水戸岡 鋭治, Mitooka Eiji; born 5 July 1947 in Okayama Prefecture) is a Japanese industrial designer, illustrator, and managing director of the industrial design company Don Design Associates (ドーンデザイン研究所). He also works as a design consultant for Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu).
Hajime Sorayama (空山 基, Sorayama Hajime; born February 22, 1947) is a Japanese illustrator known, along for his design…
Hajime Sorayama (空山 基, Sorayama Hajime; born February 22, 1947) is a Japanese illustrator known, along for his design work on the original Sony AIBO, for his precisely detailed, erotic portrayals of feminine robots. He describes his highly detailed style as "superrealism", which he says "deals with the technical issue of how close one can get to one's object."
Maki Sasaki (佐々木 マキ, Sasaki Maki; born October 18, 1946) is a Japanese illustrator, picture book writer, and manga…
Maki Sasaki (佐々木 マキ, Sasaki Maki; born October 18, 1946) is a Japanese illustrator, picture book writer, and manga artist. His avant-garde comics are characterized by non-sequiturs and absurd imagery, being called "anti-manga".
Pater Sato (ペーター 佐藤, Pētā Satō; 1945–1994) was a Japanese artist who created airbrush art for magazines. His birth name…
Pater Sato (ペーター 佐藤, Pētā Satō; 1945–1994) was a Japanese artist who created airbrush art for magazines. His birth name was Yoshinori Sato. A selection of Sato's work is on display and for sale at the Pater Sato shop in Harajuku.
Seizō Watase (わたせ せいぞう or 渡瀬 政造, Watase Seizō) is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator born 15 February 1945 in…
Seizō Watase (わたせ せいぞう or 渡瀬 政造, Watase Seizō) is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator born 15 February 1945 in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Outside of being an illustrator for numerous posters, books, and other works, he is most well known for his dramatic romance manga Heart Cocktail, which had sold over 5 million copies. He won the 1974 Shogakukan Big Comic Prize. In 1987, Watase received the Bungeishunjū Manga Award for his work Phillip, P.I. (私立探偵フィリップ, Shiritsu Tantei Firippu). In addition to various exhibits in Japan, Watase held his first major exhibit in the United States at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Los Angeles, California in 1998.
Hiroo Isono (磯野宏夫, Isono Hiroo; 1945–2013) was a Japanese painter and illustrator known for his detailed forest…
Hiroo Isono (磯野宏夫, Isono Hiroo; 1945–2013) was a Japanese painter and illustrator known for his detailed forest landscapes and nature‑themed imagery. Active in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. His work continued to be exhibited posthumously, including a major memorial exhibition in 2023 at the Furukawa Art Museum’s Furusawa Saburō Memorial Hall.
Susumu Katsumata (勝又 進, Katsumata Susumu; December 27, 1943 – December 3, 2007) was a Japanese manga artist.
Teruhiko Yumura (湯村 輝彦, Yumura Teruhiko; born November 1, 1942) is a Japanese illustrator, designer, cartoonist and…
Teruhiko Yumura (湯村 輝彦, Yumura Teruhiko; born November 1, 1942) is a Japanese illustrator, designer, cartoonist and music critic. He is one of the exemplars of the heta-uma illustration aesthetic. Born in Hakuzu, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo (currently Nishi-Shinjuku), he signed works under the pen names "Terry Johnson" (Gonzo), "FLAMINGO TERRY", "FRAMINA TERRENO GONZO", "TERRINO FLAMINI 'GONZAREZ" and "KURUZURU Terumanta". Yumura is known by the nickname "King Terry". Yumura studied at Tama Art University and drew covers for the magazine Garo in the 1970s and 1980s. He collaborated with copywriter Shigesato Itoi in short comics such as Penguin Shuffle and Jonetsu Penguin no Gohan. He also collaborated with the American magazines Wet and Raw. Yumura's comics were influenced by Japanese and American pop culture; his artwork is characterized by crudely done drawings made in a conscious, deliberate manner. This style became known as heta-uma (bad but good).
Akira Fujii (藤井 旭, Fujii Akira; 12 January 1941 – 28 December 2022) was a Japanese astrophotographer and astronomer.…
Akira Fujii (藤井 旭, Fujii Akira; 12 January 1941 – 28 December 2022) was a Japanese astrophotographer and astronomer. PBS has described him as "the world's foremost wide-angle astrophotographer". Fujii graduated from Tama Art University in 1961, and began working at observatories, producing a substantial bibliography of general-audience astronomy books. In 1974, Fujii began Japan's first star party, the "Invitation to Starlit Skies", which he hosted on Mount Azuma until 1984. Fujii's work is marketed by David Malin; he collaborated with Serge Brunier in the production of 2001's Great Atlas of the Stars. The main-belt asteroid 3872 Akirafujii is named in his honor. Fujii died on 28 December 2022, at the age of 81.
Kazuo Kamimura (上村 一夫, Kamimura Kazuo; March 7, 1940 in Yokosuka – January 11, 1986) was a Japanese manga artist born…
Kazuo Kamimura (上村 一夫, Kamimura Kazuo; March 7, 1940 in Yokosuka – January 11, 1986) was a Japanese manga artist born in Yokosuka, Kanagawa. He was best known as the illustrator of Lady Snowblood, which was adapted into film in 1973. Hitoshi Iwaaki, a manga artist was his assistant. He has been called "the ukiyo-e master of Shōwa-era manga." Kamimura died on January 11, 1986, at age 45, of a pharynx tumor.
Kinuko Yamabe Craft (born January 3, 1940) is a Japanese-born American painter, illustrator, and fantasy artist.
Shusei Nagaoka (長岡秀星, Nagaoka Shūsei; November 26, 1936 – June 23, 2015) was a Japanese illustrator.
Shūichi Higurashi (日暮修一) (1936 – April 13, 2012) was a Japanese manga illustrator and magazine artist. Higurashi was…
Shūichi Higurashi (日暮修一) (1936 – April 13, 2012) was a Japanese manga illustrator and magazine artist. Higurashi was the cover artist for Big Comic, a Japanese manga magazine, for more than forty years, from 1970 until fall 2011. Higurashi was raised in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture. He studied at Musashino Art School, now known as Musashino Art University, a progressive university with a curriculum in fine arts and industrial design. He became head of character illustration at Big Comic in 1970. Each issue of Big Comic during this era featured a large caricature of a famous individual on the cover, typically sports stars, actors and, politicians. All were drawn by Higurashi in his signature style of a large head relative to a small body. His drawings became a trademark of the magazine. Higurashi was well known for his work outside of Big Comic. He and his younger brother, the Mainichi Shinbun copywriter Higurashi Shinzō (b. 1944), wrote and illustrated the long-running series Shūichi, Shinzō no mōningu jakku for the Sunday edition of the newspaper. The series ran from 1981 until 2006. In addition to his illustrations, Higurashi also illustrated for the defunct magazine Rapita, and worked as a business advertisement designer. To mark his 25th anniversary as the cover artist with Big Comic, the Shogakukan publisher released a book of his cover illustrations in 1994 titled "Big na Kao". In 2000, Higurashi received a special Shogakukan Manga Award for his lifetime achievement as a manga illustrator. In 2006 Higurashi was the feature of an exhibition of his works at the Matsudo Cultural Hall. Higurashi stepped down as cover illustrator of Big Comic in fall 2011 due to declining health. He died in Tokyo from pneumonia on April 13, 2012, at the age of 75. Higurashi was survived by his wife, Kazuko.
Keiichi Tanaami (21 July 1936 – 9 August 2024) was a Japanese pop artist who was active as multi-genre artist from the…
Keiichi Tanaami (21 July 1936 – 9 August 2024) was a Japanese pop artist who was active as multi-genre artist from the 1960s as a graphic designer, illustrator, video artist and fine artist.
Makoto Wada (和田誠, Wada Makoto) (10 April 1936 – 7 October 2019) was a Japanese illustrator, essayist, and film director.
Noriyoshi Ohrai (Japanese: 生頼 範義, Hepburn: Ōrai Noriyoshi; November 17, 1935 – October 27, 2015) was a Japanese…
Noriyoshi Ohrai (Japanese: 生頼 範義, Hepburn: Ōrai Noriyoshi; November 17, 1935 – October 27, 2015) was a Japanese illustrator. He is most notable for illustrating the international poster for The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and several Godzilla film posters during the Heisei era. Ohrai's prolific work includes the illustration of over 1,300 book and magazine covers, video game box art, movie posters and portraits.
Sunao Hari (針 すなお, Hari Sunao), real name Sunao Takagawa (高閑者 順, Takagawa Sunao), is a Japanese manga artist and…
Sunao Hari (針 すなお, Hari Sunao), real name Sunao Takagawa (高閑者 順, Takagawa Sunao), is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator, martial artist born 15 March 1933 in Saga, Saga Prefecture, Japan. He graduated from Saga Prefectural Saga High School (now Saga Prefectural Saga West High School). Hari is the fifth son of the chief priest at Kōdenji, a family temple in the former Saga Domain. He worked at a cotton spinning company and as a bank employee before moving to Tokyo in 1953 to work as a writer for a financial journal. Hari made his professional manga debut in 1956. He holds a level of 8th dan in aikido, and he studied an offshoot of Shintō Musō-ryū staff fighting called "Tai no Jō" (体の杖). He currently operates in Saga City a dojo devoted to the study of aikido and jōjutsu (staff fighting). Hari creates the politician caricatures for the Sankei Shimbun, as well as a weekly one panel manga for the Weekly Manga Times. He won the 1973 Japan Cartoonists Association Award for Excellence for his work Hari Sunao Nigaoe Mangashū: Sokkuri (針すなお似顔絵漫画集・そっくり). He also won the Bungeishunjū Manga Award in 1998 for his political caricatures.
Yōji Kuri (久里洋二, Kuri Yōji; April 9, 1928 – November 24, 2024) was a Japanese cartoonist and independent filmmaker. An…
Yōji Kuri (久里洋二, Kuri Yōji; April 9, 1928 – November 24, 2024) was a Japanese cartoonist and independent filmmaker. An influential figure in Japanese independent animation, he was the unofficial leader and most prolific of the "Animation Association of Three" (アニメーション三人の会, Animēshon Sannin no Kai) collective who kick-started the renaissance of modern-styled, independently made, adult-aimed animation in early 1960s Japan. He is known internationally for the very black comedy of his films, with the typically naïve style of his cartooning often belying the surreal, obscene and disturbing situations they depict (though he has worked in a variety of styles and mediums, including pixilation); this made them a favourite among the fervently counter-cultural audiences, which included such filmmakers as René Laloux, of the first few years of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, and in a 1967 publication he was considered to be "the most significant" and "the only Japanese animator whose work is known in the West" (which is to disregard the Toei Animation features and Astro Boy series that were first seen in the West around the same time that Kuri's first several films were and mentioned in passing in the same publication, though these were not known as works of an individual and characteristic filmmaker and often had their Japanese origin played down). He is also known in Japan for his comics, a collection of which earned him the 1958 Bungeishunjū Manga Award. Though he was retired from filmmaking, he continued to illustrate and teach animation at Laputa Art Animation School (アート・アニメーションのちいさな学校, Āto Animēshon no Chiisana Gakkō). Kuri died on November 24, 2024, at the age of 96. His death was announced in the following month, on December 15.
Ishihara Tōru (Japanese: 石原 徹; March 15, 1923 – June 19, 1998), known by the pseudonyms Ishihara Gōjin (石原 豪人) and…
Ishihara Tōru (Japanese: 石原 徹; March 15, 1923 – June 19, 1998), known by the pseudonyms Ishihara Gōjin (石原 豪人) and Hayashi Gekkō (林 月光), was a Japanese painter and illustrator.
Jun'ichi Nakahara (Japanese: 中原淳一; February 16, 1913 – April 19, 1983) was a Japanese graphic artist and fashion…
Jun'ichi Nakahara (Japanese: 中原淳一; February 16, 1913 – April 19, 1983) was a Japanese graphic artist and fashion designer born in Higashikagawa. He was also a French doll maker. He became famous as an illustrator in the 1920s when his work appeared in the magazine Shojo No Tomo. According to the scholar Nozomi Masuda, Nakahara "greatly developed the eyes of shojo manga characters". Nakahara was married to the actress Kuniko Ashihara. The couple had four children, including the painter Shuichi Nakahara.
Kenkichi Sugimoto (杉本健吉) (September 20, 1905 in Nagoya – February 10, 2004 in Nagoya) was a Japanese artist. He was…
Kenkichi Sugimoto (杉本健吉) (September 20, 1905 in Nagoya – February 10, 2004 in Nagoya) was a Japanese artist. He was known as an oil painter, illustrator, and graphic designer. In 1987 the Meitetsu railroad company opened the Sugimoto Art Museum in Mihama, Aichi.
Itō Hikozō (Japanese: 伊藤 彦造; February 17, 1904 – September 9, 2004) was a Japanese painter and illustrator.
Ume Aoki (Japanese: 蒼樹 うめ, Hepburn: Aoki Ume; born August 3, 1981) is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, animator…
Ume Aoki (Japanese: 蒼樹 うめ, Hepburn: Aoki Ume; born August 3, 1981) is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, animator, voice actress, and dōjin artist from Hyōgo Prefecture. She officially romanizes her name as aokiume. She illustrates under the pennames apricot+ for many of her dōjinshi, and Apply Fujimiya (藤宮 アプリ, Fujimiya Apuri) for the visual novel Sanarara. Aoki provided the voice for her Metapod persona in the Shaft anime adaptation of her four-panel comic strip Hidamari Sketch. She later created the original character designs for Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a Shaft anime production; and has been involved with the franchise—spanning several films, mobile games, manga, novels, and further television anime series—since then.
Miyama-Zero (みやま零) is the pen name of a Japanese illustrator and artist. Their gender is unknown.
Satoko Kiyuduki (きゆづき さとこ) is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator from Fukui Prefecture. She is best known for her…
Satoko Kiyuduki (きゆづき さとこ) is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator from Fukui Prefecture. She is best known for her work on the Dept. Heaven series of games and her yonkoma manga GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class and Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro.
J-ta Yamada (山田 J太 or 山田 ジェイ太, Yamada Jeita; born January 26) is a Japanese manga artist. Yamada is known for creating…
J-ta Yamada (山田 J太 or 山田 ジェイ太, Yamada Jeita; born January 26) is a Japanese manga artist. Yamada is known for creating the manga Asatte no Houkou, which also spawned an anime. Yamada also created the manga Majina! and the manga Gifuto. He has created a mahjong game called Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Jong, which is based on 07th Expansion's Higurashi When They Cry. It began appearing once a month in Takeshobo's Kindai Mahjong magazine starting on January 1, 2010.
Mikiyo Tsuda (つだ みきよ, Tsuda Mikiyo; born on January 10) is the pen name of Mikiyo Tsuda (津田 美貴代), a Japanese manga…
Mikiyo Tsuda (つだ みきよ, Tsuda Mikiyo; born on January 10) is the pen name of Mikiyo Tsuda (津田 美貴代), a Japanese manga artist active since 1998. Under the name Taishi Zaō (蔵王大志, Zaō Taishi), she writes boys love and girls love manga while under Mikiyo Tsuda she writes comedy-shōjo manga.
Yui Haga (葉賀ユイ, Haga Yui) is a Japanese light novel, manga, and anime artist. His most famous work is Baka and Test…
Yui Haga (葉賀ユイ, Haga Yui) is a Japanese light novel, manga, and anime artist. His most famous work is Baka and Test, which inspired a two series anime and a video game for the PlayStation Portable. He is also responsible for Astarotte no Omocha! and Sakura*Nadeshiko. Additionally, he was responsible for the ending illustrations in Nisemonogatari.
Cosei Kawa is an illustrator of children's books and an associate professor at Shizuoka University of Art and Culture.
Yuri Yokomizo (よこみぞゆり, Yokomizo Yuri) is a Japanese illustrator and graphic designer who is best known for creating the…
Yuri Yokomizo (よこみぞゆり, Yokomizo Yuri) is a Japanese illustrator and graphic designer who is best known for creating the San-X series 'Sumikko Gurashi'. The series has inspired a popular line of merchandise and has been adapted into video games and critically acclaimed feature films in Japan. After leaving San-X she has worked as a freelance illustrator and has created the Nandemo Ikimono characters.
Obetomo (おべとも, Obetomo) - born Tomoko Okabe (岡部智子, Okabe Tomoko) in Tokyo in April 1979 - is a Japanese illustrator and…
Obetomo (おべとも, Obetomo) - born Tomoko Okabe (岡部智子, Okabe Tomoko) in Tokyo in April 1979 - is a Japanese illustrator and animator. She is a graduate from the Tokyo Zokei University. The pen name "Obetomo" is her nickname from her college years. Her most famous work is the children's cartoon Obetomo Gakuen (おべとも学園), broadcast on the national NHK network from 2008 to 2013. In addition to her own original animations and designs, Okabe has designed characters and created illustrations for magazines, textbooks, and companies. Okabe shares original animations on her YouTube channel.
Takehiko Itō (伊東 岳彦, Itō Takehiko) is a Japanese manga artist best known for his work on the manga Outlaw Star from his…
Takehiko Itō (伊東 岳彦, Itō Takehiko) is a Japanese manga artist best known for his work on the manga Outlaw Star from his affiliated Morning Star Studio. He was also the primary creative mind behind other works of fiction set in the Toward Stars universe including the Uchuu Eiyuu Monogatari manga and Angel Links anime series.
Yuki Iwata (岩田 ユキ, Iwata Yuki; born 1972 in Shizuoka Prefecture) is a Japanese film director and illustrator.
Keito Koume (小梅けいと, Koume Keito) is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator. Koume studied at Kyoto University and has…
Keito Koume (小梅けいと, Koume Keito) is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator. Koume studied at Kyoto University and has been drawing manga professionally since 2000. In addition to drawing series type manga, he also regularly produces erotic manga one-shots. He is best known as being the illustrator for the manga series Spice and Wolf, by Isuna Hasekura.
En Kitō (鬼頭 えん, Kitō En; born June 30) is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator. While working as a dōjin artist, she…
En Kitō (鬼頭 えん, Kitō En; born June 30) is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator. While working as a dōjin artist, she was in charge of the key drawings for the adult game Heart de Network (Euphony Production) in 2000. After releasing several one-shots in commercial magazines, she began serializing two manga (written by Ryukishi07) based on the Higurashi When They Cry visual novel series, Onisarashi-hen and Utsutsukowashi-hen, in Comp Ace (Kadokawa Shoten) from 2005 to 2007. In the July 2008 issue of Comp Ace, she started work on a manga based on Valkyria Chronicles, and completed the series in the May 2010 issue. She is a big fan of the Breath of Fire (Capcom) series of role-playing games, and her dōjin activities mainly revolve around it. Since the summer of 2010, she has been publishing her original dōjin work, the Saint Foire Festival series.
Tomoso Nonaka (Japanese:野中ともそ) is a Japanese novelist and illustrator.
Suzuhito Yasuda (ヤスダ スズヒト, Yasuda Suzuhito) is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator. He is known as the creator of…
Suzuhito Yasuda (ヤスダ スズヒト, Yasuda Suzuhito) is a Japanese manga artist and illustrator. He is known as the creator of Yozakura Quartet and for illustrating the light novel series Durarara!! and Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, all of which have been adapted into anime series. He is also the character designer for the Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor video game series and Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth.
Ui Shigure (しぐれうい, Shigure Ui) is a Japanese illustrator, manga artist, light novel character designer, musician and…
Ui Shigure (しぐれうい, Shigure Ui) is a Japanese illustrator, manga artist, light novel character designer, musician and VTuber.