Meet the illustrator Ryôji Arai from Japan

"The things I'm trying to say become lines and colours. And I get closer to the things 

I'm trying to express. And it begins to look something like a picture. 

And then I want to show it to someone .

And it becomes a picture book. And eventually, I wind up doing this over and over.

And I think that's because I want to become a person who makes picture books 

and makes others happy."

Ryôji Arai was born in Yamagata, Japan in 1956. He has an illustrative style all of his own: bold, mischievous and unpredictable. Arai studied art at Nippon University. His art is at once genuine and truly poetic, encouraging children to paint and to tell their own stories. He took the Japanese picture-book world by storm in the 1990s. Since then, he has won multiple awards, including the international Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2005.

He has published more than sixty picture books and illustrated more than two hundred children’s books by other authors.

You can see the list of all the 2022 HCAA nominees here. 

Here are some books by Ryôji Arai:

Here is a page from this book:

Here is a comment from the Astrid Lindgren Memoral Award (ALMA) judges:

"Ryôji Arai is an illustrator with a style all of his own: bold, mischievous and unpredictable. His picturebooks glow with warmth, playful good humour and an audacious spontaneity that appeals to children and adults alike. In adventure after adventure, colour flows through his hands in an almost musical way. As a medium for conveying stories to children, his art is at once genuine and truly poetic, encouraging children to paint and to tell their own stories."

Ryoji's books submitted to the HCAA judges are: : きょうはそらにまるいつき Kyo wa sora ni marui tsuki (A Full Moon in the Sky Tonight), あさになったので _まどをあけますよAsa ni natta node mado o akemasu yo (It’s morning so I’ll open the window), たいようオルガン Taiyo orugan (A Sound of Taiyo-Organ), オツベルと象 Otsuberu to zo (Otber and Elephant), ユックリとジョジョニYukkuri to Jojoni (Slowly, Gradually). 

 I would like to read this one - perhaps one day it will also be in English: