Tag Archives: #japan

Morita MiW

We don’t know the full name of this Japanese illustrator but she does work under the brand, Morita MiW. We do know that she was born in Osaka, Japan and that she graduated from Osaka University of Arts.  She started her brand in 2016 and has been illustrating and creating store logos, confectionery designs, stationery goods and textile. She has lived in Tokyo since the year 2000.

More of her work can be found on her website, Facebook and Instagram.

Images:  Courtesy of Morita MiW.

Ikki Matsumoto (1935 – 2013)

Ikki Matsumoto is the son of the artist we featured yesterday, Katsuji Matsumoto.  Ikki travelled to the United States to study at the John Herron School of Art in Indiana, where his older brother was a sculpture student. He transferred to the Art Academy of Cincinnati to study under the renowned wildlife artist, Charles Harper.  After an unsatisfying work in the advertising field, he established a new career as a painter and printmaker using the native birds as his subjects. Matsumoto intended for his work to make people feel good as he said, ‘there are no heavy messages in my work, I just simply wish to delight’.

More of his art can be viewed here on his posthumous website.

Images:  Courtesy of various sources.

Katsuji Matsumoto (1904 – 1986)

Katsuji Matsumoto was a Japanese illustrator  and shojo manga artist. He started his career an as illustrator at the age of 17.  He contributed illustrations to numerous popular girls’ novels and magazines.  He became one of the most influential Japanese illustrator in the early and mid 20th century and was named a pioneer of kawaii, the culture of cuteness in Japan.  He was a prolific illustrator of children’s books and created merchandise for babies, small children, and girls. The Gallery Katsuji Matsumoto in Tokyo is managed by his surviving children. There you can see many originals as well as prints and products from pre- and post-WWII era.

Images:  Courtesy of various sources.

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