RyÅji Arai is a Japanese illustrator. His production of picture books is both large and varied – from small books for toddlers, to picture books of nonsense, fairy tales and poetry, both written himself and by other writers. He has also worked with advertising, magazine illustration and theater set design. For his career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense" he won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council in 2005, the largest cash prize in children's literature.
Arai was born in Yamagata in 1956 and resides in Tokyo. He studied art at Nippon University.
|