Biography.
1968 Born in Higashimatsuyama City, Saitama Prefecture.
1988 Graduated from Nippon Design College, Department of Graphic Design.
1994-2008 Solo exhibitions at Kichijoji Gallery, Musashino, Tokyo; 2002-2023 Solo exhibitions at Mukohaioi Gallery and Akane Gallery, Ginza, Tokyo.
2018- Member of JWS, Japan Transparent Watercolour Society.


When I paint...
Basically, I paint according to 'realism', but at the same time I follow a 'watercolour style', such as blotting and blurring with lots of water.
These two elements are contradictory and it is very difficult to achieve both on a surface.
If one is given priority over the other, the other will not be possible.
This compatibility between 'realism' and 'watercolour' has always been an important and perennial theme for me.

And not only me, but all figurative painters, I think, are always aware of the 'expression of light'.
I am always thinking about how to capture the 'light' that I actually see with my eyes and incorporate it into the composition of the picture, its colour, stability, direction and warmth, and what the shadows that appear on the picture will evoke in the viewer's mind.
There are different kinds of light. Sunlight, moonlight, light from a light bulb, light coming through a window, light gliding over the surface of an apple, light from the inside of a glass vase, light that makes the leaves of trees shimmer silver... Bright, dazzling light is good, but I also want to paint the faint light that gently illuminates the darkness of the mind.

Who introduced me to the world of watercolour...
There are two people who introduced me to the world of watercolour painting.
One is the storybook author Chihiro Iwasaki, whose late masterpiece, Children of War, was given to me by my aunt as a wedding present when I was six years old.
In the picture book, the faces of children floating vaguely in cyclamen petals and the phrase “Our whole life has been in war...” stuck in my childish mind.
I found the same picture book in the library of the design college I attended after graduating from high school, hoping to find a job as a painter.
Another big influence was Iritani-Kiyohide, who was my seminar teacher in my second year at the design college.
I joined Kiyohide Iritani's seminar by chance, just because he seemed trustworthy, but at that time he was already painting watercolours and had a solo exhibition. I had already started to develop an interest in watercolour painting and he was the perfect teacher for me.
He did not teach me how to use watercolour techniques, and it was only after I graduated that I realised I had been influenced by Iritani's work. But I have no doubt that I inherited the strong touch of shading, so different from transparent watercolour, from him.
If I had not met Chihiro Iwasaki and Kiyohide Iritani, my life would have been very different.

From now on...
Ever since I was a child, I was not good at schoolwork and sports.
I was not good at the basics, could not do the same things as everyone else around me, and experienced a lot of bitterness. As a reaction to this, I had a strong desire for fame and recognition, and I think I was more ambitious when I was younger.
Now, as the years have passed, I just want to be close to people's hearts.
I want to paint pictures that will help those who are suffering, as I did in the past.
If my paintings become a beacon for people who have been looking down in depression to start walking forward again... then I think that will be the proof of my life.