One person I have known for years, and is a close friend of many of the people in the book, and who I have always admired is the children's book artist Hideo Ito.
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| Painting of Kogan and Sayaka Murata |
He publishes two or more books every year, in a tremendous variety of styles, and has exhibited at the gallery in Nagoya at the Tokurinji Temple, (mentioned throughout the book) and was good friends with Akira Ito (no family relation) who I wrote about in Chapter Six.
The painting above is not from his children's book collection, but a single edition watercolor of Murata san (from Chapter 4) and his partner Sayaka. I love this photo. It was tricky to get a good shot of it since it is mounted in glass. You can see Murata playing the flute and Sayaka, who is a novelist writing. Yet another way of seeing their way of life.
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Cover of Chikara Taro
Illustrations by Hideo Ito |
This is one of Hideo's newest book. It translates roughly as "Power Boy." I think it would make a GREAT book in English. It would need translation of course, and a publisher, but I think you can see from these quick snapshots the power of his work. (Interested parties can email him directly at
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The boy Chikara Taro confronts a magician
in Chikara Taro illustrated by Hideo Ito |
I just had dinner with Hideo and some other friends while visiting Tokurinji. I will be posting a lot in the next few months with reports on my journey to Japan. But for now, I hope you enjoy these photos.
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| From Chikara Taro illustrated by Hideo Ito |
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| Illustration by Hideo Ito |
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