By Takehara Shunsen (竹原春泉) - ISBN 4-0438-3001-7., Public Domain Azuki Arai (小豆洗い) — the Bean Washer — is not among the dangerous ones. It haunts riversides and mountain streams at night, and what you hear is the sound of beans being washed: a dry, rhythmic scraping, shoki shoki, rising from the water below. Sometimes a voice goes with it, singing to itself: Shall I wash beans? Shall I catch a human? And then — nothing. The yokai is never seen. Only heard. No one agrees on whether encountering...

Finrando no Omoide (Memories of Finland), Acrylic on canvas, 100x120 cm, 2025, Private collection (Finland) Growing up in Japan, Finnish culture was not entirely foreign to me — Moomin troll stories were part of my childhood, as they were for so many Japanese children. That gentle, slightly strange world of Tove Jansson's creation, full of odd creatures living ordinary domestic lives, left a quiet impression. So when the invitation came to make work for Talo! Tampere, Finland already had a...

I’m happy to share that my webstore is now officially open. For the first time, you can buy my limited edition prints and small merchandise directly through the site, no matter where you are. Right now, the store includes a selection of prints that represent different moments in my practice. Each one is part of a limited edition and prepared with the same care I put into my studio work. It’s a small collection to start with, but it will grow steadily. Over the next months, I’ll be adding more...