My glaucoma in the right eye has progressed.
The weakened optic nerve now covers my field of vision like countless shards of ice.
I do not dwell on it—perhaps that is the resolve I have gained at the age of eighty-one.

I became aware of my declining eyesight several years ago.
Around that time, generative AI began to spread widely.
“This might become a tool to compensate for my vision.”
With that thought, I immediately embraced it.
However, the quality varied greatly, and there were almost no generated images that I truly wanted to use.

So I developed a method of combining my own hand-drawn work with digital images in Photoshop.
Then, on November 9, 2025, I encountered a piece that perfectly aligned with my sensibility.

At that moment, I sensed a dangerous fragility in the sweet, sensual magenta of a morning glory.
Its delicate petals pierced me with unexpected violence.

What stirred me so deeply may have been the residue of unprocessed time—
for I had stopped presenting my work to the public for fifteen years.

At the age of forty-three, I shifted from being a metal craftsman to a painter.
Until then, I had received no awards, and there was no guarantee I could make a living as an artist.

I was prepared to die in obscurity.

Yet, I was betrayed—in the best possible way.
I began receiving art awards one after another, and for the next twenty-three years, I worked with intensity and passion.

Illustrated books and commissioned works—creating them was a joy.
They also sustained my life.

And yet, I always felt a sense of discomfort.

Now, as my vision continues to weaken, I am driven to create images that strike the heart with force.
It is not irony, nor cynicism, nor even nostalgia for passing time.
It feels like a resistance—like the pressure of the wind against one’s life.

One hundred and forty days have passed since that sudden and violent awakening.
Now, I simply want to continue creating what moves the heart—
even if it is unsettling.

One of my picture books, Father is Sky, Mother is Earth (Parol-sha),
was included in junior high school textbooks and adopted as a supplementary reader in many schools.

My work has also been connected to theater, film, and music,
including collaborations related to the Tokyo International Film Festival and Shiki Theatre Company.

In my specialized field of metal sculpture,
I created a five-meter outdoor sculpture commissioned by the Ministry of Construction.
It can be confirmed via Google Maps imagery.

My primary sources of income were publishing, design, and television commercial work.
Although I received many offers, I often declined to hold exhibitions.
One of the rare exceptions was an exhibition in Osaka,
jointly sponsored by Dai Nippon Printing, Yomiuri Shimbun, and JR West.

For about two years, I earned income through magazine contributions.
I received the Grand Prize in an essay competition organized by the Ministry of Education.
Special Prize at the Liquitex Biennale.
Sculpture Grand Prize at the Arakawa Art Festival.
As well as numerous other awards in the field of fine art.

Archive of past works (approximately 500 pieces)