Yamaguchi Akira
b. 1969, JapanBorn in Tokyo in 1969, Yamaguchi was raised in Gunma Prefecture and earned an MA in Oil Painting from Tokyo University of the Arts in 1996. In 2017, he was appointed the first Artistic Ambassador of his hometown, Kiryu City. Working primarily in oil while drawing on traditional Japanese pictorial styles, Yamaguchi is best known for his bird’s-eye views of cities and dynamic depictions of historical battlefields. His multidisciplinary practice extends to sculpture, manga, and installation, and includes major public artworks at sites such as Narita International Airport and Nihonbashi Station on the Tokyo Metro. In addition, he has produced illustrations and cover art for serialized newspaper features and novels, maintaining an exceptionally prolific and wide-ranging body of work. He also created the official art poster for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
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