ILLUSTRATOR

ISHIKAWA Masumi

1978 Born in Tokyo
Ishikawa becomes a disciple of Master Utagawa Toyokuni VI in 2000, but due to his master’s sudden passing, Ishikawa has continued to pursue the Utagawa aesthetics on his own, and actively holds both solo shows and group exhibitions.
Other than works with UKIYO-E PROJECT, Ishikawa has created illustrations for ukiyo-e in collaboration with Star Wars and Cobra; key visuals for GRAND FRONT OSAKA’s 3rd anniversary; poster designs for Onoe Matsuya’s solo show Idomu; key visuals for television series Ishikawa Goemon, to name a few.
Ishikawa’s recent works include a collaboration with KATSUSHIKA Hokusai for the exhibition Hokusai and Japonisme held at the National Museum of Western Art, a collaborative clothing line with New Era, and key visuals for the contemporary kabuki adaptation of Star Wars.
https://www.konjakulabo.com/

URBANOWICZ Mateusz

1986 Born, raised in Silesia, Poland
After completing a Computer Graphics course at the Polish Japanese Institute of Information Technology, Mateusz Urbanowicz moved to Kobe (Japan), with a Japanese government scholarship, to study animation and comics. He graduated with honors from Kobe Design University with a short animated movie called Right Places.
From 2013, Urbanowicz worked as a full-time background artist in the Comix Wave Films animation studio in Tokyo, taking part in the making of TV commercials, animated TV series (such as Space Dandy) and feature-length animated movies (Your Name).
He moved to a freelance artist career to focus on his original projects in 2017 and started working on the Tokyo Storefronts watercolor illustration album published in April 2018. He continues to make his own art (comics, illustrations, paintings, animations), and online content including YouTube videos, as well as taking part in bigger projects and doing commission work from time to time.
https://mateuszurbanowicz.com/

OZ-Yamaguchi Keisuke

2015｜「OZ-Yamaguchi Keisuke Solo Exhibition」(gallery 82, Nagano)
2016｜「Ronin-Globus Artist in Residence Program」The best award prize (New York, U. S. A.)
「Paintings from New York Solo Exhibition」(Ronin Gallery, New York, U. S. A.)
2022｜「MONO OZ-Yamaguchi Keisuke Solo Exhibition」 (gallery 82, Nagano)
2023｜「Monochrome OZ-Yamaguchi Keisuke Solo Exhibition」 (AIN SOPH DISPATCH, Aichi)

He is continuing to search for the “something” hidden in all things by blending thoughts and senses peculiar to Japan, traditional techniques with thoroughly modern imagery.

In recent years, his expressions have diversified such as have drawn a picture large EMA and Japonism modern picture, and while promoting dedication and cultural inheritance, holding solo exhibitions in overseas and participating international art festivals.
https://oz-te.com

WOODCARVER

WATANABE Kazuo

1945 Born in Ibaraki Prefecture
Watanabe starts his training with master carver OKURA Hanbei, and becomes a professional carver after 6 years of apprenticeship. He has been carving for over 50 years now, and shares his experience both in and outside of Japan, such as exhibiting works for the Japanese Emperor’s Royal visit, and holding live demonstrations in France.
Watanabe is certified an Edo Woodblock Traditional Craftsman by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry.

SEKIOKA Senrei III (SEKIOKA Yusuke)

1957 Born and raised in Tokyo, lives in Arakawa-ku
Although Sekioka was born into a family of printers, he starts training to become a woodcarver under the Master carver OKURA Hanbei at the age of 19, following the advice of his father Senrei II. After 7 years of training, he succeeds the name Sekioka Senrei III in October 2013.
Sekioka has now been carving for over 40 years. As one of the highest skilled woodcarvers in the world, he is known to not only carve perfectly along the lines but to also realize the artist’s brushstrokes to keep the final outcome as close as possible to the the original illustration.
Besides working on classic ukiyo-e, he challenges himself to take on modern designs as well, and actively accepts disciples with the desire to pass on this ancient Japanese craftsmanship to future generations.

SATO Nami

2007 Sato moves to Tokyo to train under the print artist OKUYAMA Yoshito and woodcarver SEKIOKA Senrei III. She has since been participating in creating reproductions of historical works, such as Hokusai’s Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji.

PRINTER

YOSHIDA Hideo

1939 Born in Ibaraki Prefecture
Yoshida starts his training with WATANABE Yoshiaki. Since, he has been printing works with Watanabe as a member of Watanabe Mokuhan. Yoshida’s skills are also recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

OKADA Takuya

Born in 1983
Originally from Ibaraki, Okada is a young printer in his 30's. Since graduating a traditional crafts art school in Kyoto, Okada has been working as a printer for the past 10 years, committed to leading a new generation of ukiyo-e artists.

ITO Tatsuya

1965 Born in Tokyo, lives in Nezu
At the age of 20, Ito succeeds ITO Tomorou IV, and works under the Master OGAWA Fumihiko for 3 years. In 1995, he receives the Tokyo Meister award.
Since, Ito has been holding live printing demonstrations and workshops in museums and cultural institutions, not only in Japan but also internationally, such as in Austria, Hungary, France, Australia, and Washington D.C.

NAKAYAMA Makoto

1958 Born in Kumamoto Prefecture
After graduating from the Figurative Art Department of Kyoto Seika University with an Oil Painting major, Nakayama becomes an apprentice of Master printer SATO Keizo at Sato Woodblock Studio. Since then, he has been actively sharing his craft in educational environments by hosting live demonstrations and workshops at universities in and outside of Japan, such as Finland, Denmark, Estonia, and South Korea.