Profile: Ryoji Arai Ryoji Arai’s work varies from books for toddlers to nonsense picture books, fairytales and poetry. His illustrated books have won him numerous awards in Japan an around the world, including the publisher Shogakukan’s 1997 Award for Children’s Literature for Usotsukino Tsuki (The Lying Moon), and most recently, the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an international youth and children’s literature award awarded by the Swedish government. In deciding the award in March 2005, the judges described Arai as “an illustrator with a style all of his own: bold, mischievous, and unpredictable. His picture books 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.” To view Ryoji Arai's website, click here.     Profile: Koji Suzuki Ever since holding his first street exhibition in Shinjuku at the age of twenty, Koji Suzuki has been demonstrating his distinctive style not only in picture books but also in posters, mural paintings, theatre sets and costume design. His illustrated books have won him a number of awards in Japan, including the publisher Shogakukan’s 1987 Illustration Award for Ensokun Kishani Noru and two Japan Picture Book Awards by the Japan School Library Association and Daily Yomiuri for Garasumedamato Kinno Tsunono Yagi and Yamano Disuko. In recent years, Suzuki has visited many communities around the world, introducing his illustration to audience in Hungary as well as demonstrating etching techniques in Mexico. His work has also been influenced by other art forms, such as batik, from his visits to Indonesia. To view Koji Suzuki's website click here.     Privacy & Copyright © The Japan Foundation, Sydney 2006