1948年、岐阜県に生まれる。

イラストレーターとして月刊誌、レコードジャケットなどの仕事を始めるが、あきたりず、自作絵本の準備中に木との出会いがあり、＜組み木絵＞を考案。84年、組み木絵本第一作『ふるいみらい』を発表して以来、絵本・時計・壁画など、一作ごとに独自の分野を切り開く。

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I was born in 1948 and grew up in a small mountain town of Gifu Prefecture. After graduating from the local high school, I moved to Tokyo to become an illustrator.

Around 1969, I began to illustrate for monthly picture magazines and LP covers. However, I was not quite satisfied with illustration work and decided to publish my own picture books. While preparing for this task, I happened to encounter wood and developed the art of "Kumikie," an original approach to creating pictures in the form of inlaid wood.

Since my first publication of the "Kumikie" picture book entitled "Furui Mirai" (Old Future), I have further developed the original world of "Kumikie" with picture books, clocks, and wall pictures.

「組み木絵」というのは、何十種類もの木を、その色・木目などをいかしながら、着色せずに木の色のみで「絵」として組み込んでいく手法です。

その基本にあるのは、木の持ってる暖かさややさしさを通じて、自然との関わりや、重要さ、そして人間も自然の一員なのだということを、少しでも感じていただけたらという願いが込められています。

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In the art of "Kumikie" I use pieces of many kinds of wood to create pictures without adding color but by making full use of natural colors and patterns of the wood. First, I draw an original picture on paper. Next, I trace this original picture on a base board and cut all traced lines with a fret saw. Then I select pieces of wood of desired colors and patterns, cut them to fit the traced lines on the base board, and fit them onto the base board to make pictures.

It is my wish and pleasure that more people will think about their relationship with nature and the importance of nature through the warmth of wood and rediscover that we humans are only another member of nature.