Introduction of authors 2

10 Arai Ryoji (1956-)

While working as a freelance illustrator, he met editor Doi Akifumi, and then published "Yukkuri to Jojoni [Yukkuri and Jojoni]", his first picture book for commercial publication, in 1991. His bright and vivid color use and innovative, daring, and unrestrained style have won acclaim both within Japan and overseas. He engages in a wide range of activities including animation, stage design, live painting, art direction, and more.

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11 Tamura Shigeru (1949-)

He studied at a professional design school and worked as a package designer at a printing company, producing picture books as prizes to be included with sweets. He later began to work on his own picture books as well, beginning with "Ari to suika [The ants and the watermelon]" published in 1976. His works are characterized by his use of his printing knowledge and experience to select his own inks, and take great care with color reproduction to produce picture books with beautiful coloring. He has produced works in a wide range of genres including illustrations, animation, manga, and more.

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12 Kobayashi Yutaka (1946-)

He has produced numerous picture books which depict the cultures of other countries and the realities of war-torn regions based on his experiences visiting different places in the world. His experiences in the various countries in the Middle East and Asia from the 1970's to the 1980's in particular are used as themes for many of his works, including "Sekaiichi utsukushii boku no mura [The most beautiful village in the world]". In addition to producing picture books, he is also actively involved in activities related to children's books, including serving as a board member for the Japanese Board on Books for Young People (JBBY), which is a network of people involved in activities to connect children and books.

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13 Furiya Nana (1961-)

From a young age, she learned to draw from her artist mother and became a picture book creator through an introduction by her aunt who worked as an editor for picture books. She later moved to Slovakia in 1992, and studied print making under the printmaker Dušan Kállay (1948-), who is sometimes called the "Magician of Color", at an art university in Bratislava. She currently lives in Slovakia, and creates picture books with delicate use of colors that show the influence of Kállay and blend elements of both Japanese and Western art.

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14 Dekune Iku (1969-)

After graduating from art college, in 1994, she published "Ofuro [Bath]" in the monthly magazine "Gakken ohanashi ehon [Gakken Story Picture Book]". Afterwards, she greatly expanded the scope of her activities, including attending picture book workshops by printmaker Dušan Kállay while working on illustrations and book design, holding private exhibitions, and working on art for the picture book "Grimm's fairy tale Amefurashi [The sea-hare]". In addition to delicate copper plate printing works, she has also published profound works in oil paints and tempera*. She has lived in Prague in the Czech Republic since 2002, and has also worked on picture books of folk tales from Slavic regions.

* Refers to both the paints and painting technique where pigments (colored powders which are the basis of paints) are mixed with eggs or other substances. This technique was widely used before oil paints became more common.

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15 Sakai Komako (1966-)

After working as a designer at a design office and other locations, she attended the "Atosaki Juku [Before and After Cram School]" picture book workshop, and published "Rikochan no ouchi [Rikochan's house]" in 1998, and then "Yorukuma [Night bear]" the following year. At first, her style was light and gentle with bright colors, but from "Boku okasan no koto [Mad at Mommy]" onwards, her drawings became characterized by black base tones with no clear outlines. Her scenes skillfully express light, shadow, and darkness through brush strokes and coloring, to project poetic and mysterious ambience.

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16 Doi Kaya (1969-)

While attending art college, she took book design classes and produced her own picture books and entered them in public exhibitions. After graduating, she met the editor Doi Akifumi, who had served as a judge for one of the public exhibitions she had entered and won, participated in the "Atosaki Juku [Before and After Cram School]" picture book workshop, and then debuted as a picture book creator with "Chippu to Choko no odekake [Chip and Choco's journey]". Her art is characterized by soft warm coloring and delicate drawings using colored pencils and pencil.

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17 Kudo Noriko (1970-)

She was discovered by the editor Doi Akifumi, and made her debut as a picture book creator in 1999 with "Koban tsua kabushiki gaisha [Koban Tours Company]". Her works are characterized by cute, deformed characters, gentle coloring, carefully drawn backgrounds, and the tranquil and humorous worlds which weave all these aspects together. She is also a manga artist, and is popular with readers of all ages.

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18 Shimada Yuka (1963-)

After working as a designer at a design company and other locations, she attended the "Atosaki Juku [Before and After Cram School]" picture book workshop, and published "Bamu to kero no nichiyobi [Bam and Kero's Sunday]" in 1994. Her works are characterized by drawing not only the main characters, but also supporting characters, furniture, tools, etc. in detail, and a technique of telling side stories within the pictures. In addition to the "Bamu to kero [Bam and Kero]" series, she has also published the "Garago" series, including "Kabanuri no Garago [Garago the bag salesperson]".

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Around 2000, a number of picture books were produced with appealing characters that became very popular with children. Most of these characters were anthropomorphized animals and other everyday things familiar to children, like in the "Nora neko gundan [Stray cat squad] series" and "Kureyon no kurokun [Kuro-kun, the crayon] series". These characters increasingly served as models for children, and were also characterized by diverse characteristics and personalities which were similar to real children, making them easier to relate to. Many picture books developed into series because of support from children who discovered characters they liked in the picture books.

What's more, the popularity of many of these characters was not limited to just picture books. There is an increasing trend to enjoy the worldview of these characters in settings other than just picture books, such as in merchandise, movies, etc., attracting attention from not just children, but also young people and adults. More and more people first encounter long-loved picture book characters, such as "Miffy" and the "11piki no neko [Eleven cats]" as merchandise or at character cafes, etc. before ever reading the original works.

Doi Akifumi (1957-)

He began working as an independent picture book editor around 1990 after working in editing production. He has worked on planning and editing of over 400 picture books including Gakken's monthly magazine "Ohanashi puka [Story pooka]" and Holp Shuppan's "Image no mori [Image forest]" picture book series. In addition to operating the bookstore TOM's BOX, which sells picture books and other items, he also focuses on discovering and developing new creators through his picture book workshop "Atosaki Juku [Before and After Cram School]".