After graduation, he found it difficult pursuing a career
in Biology, as the work he was doing was much more to do with formulae
and experiments, directions which he found he had little empathy for.
This led him to make the defining decision of a change in career. And
as he had already studied and graduated in Japan, Tatsuro decided to pursue
a period of study abroad. He was awarded a scholarship at Art Center,
graduating with distinction in 1991 and returning to Japan the following
year. He had already started working professionally, mostly in the children's
book field, with a host of publishing clients in both the US and Japan.
His most successful book was The Lotus Seed,
published by Harcourt Brace, which has to date sold 90,000
copies.
Visit Tatsuro's own website
It was not unnatural that his work at this stage was
much influenced by mainstream American illustration. With his drawing
ability and lyrical use of oil paints and pastels, he was much in demand
with publishers. Always able to give that little extra to his interpretation
of a text, he was also gradually redefining his own work and developing
a completely original voice. But illustrating picture books, with the
demands that they made, eventually proved wearing, and it was at this
stage that Tatsuro branched out into editorial work in magazines and the
illustration of book jackets and advertising commissions. He became a
member of Tokyo Illustrators Society in 2002.
A current commission is a daily illustration for Asahi the
largest circulation newspaper in Japan. This is a serialized novel that
appears in each morning edition. He has to date completed about 250 illustrations,
which by the time that it is finished will probably exceed 300.
Another regular gig is for the a cover illustrations for a bi-monthly corporate brochure for ADECO, as well as monthly illustrations for Japan Asia Airlines in-flight magazine.
When Tatsuro illustrates picture books or book jackets, he likes to be involved in the design as much as possible, as he feels that a far better result is achieved by integrating type and illustration in an intrinsic way. Although his early work was executed in a traditional manner, he now works mostly on a computer in Photoshop. A long admirer of Ukiyoe and woodblock prints he had been trying to find a way of applying this very traditional craft to contemporary needs, when he hit on the idea of harnessing new technology to a traditional craft. Created entirely digitally, they combine perfectly the advantages of both worlds. Contemporary in both approach and feel, these illustrations still show the influence of ukiyoe composition and colour
The Lotus Seed / Harcourt Brace
The Seasons and Someone / Harcourt Brace
Tsubu the Little Snail / Simon & Schuster
The Fox Maiden / Simon & Schuster
The Eagle's Gift / Putnam
Mysterious Tales of Japan / Putnam
The Twilight / Simon & Schuster
Clients
NHK
Kodansha
Bunshun
JAL
NEC
Sony
Asahi newspaper
Harcourt Brace
Putnam
Simon & Schuster
Farrar Straus