Ayako Akai
Painter / Artist
○Statement
Living with Fantasy
My work explores a parallel world that quietly coexists beneath everyday life, even when the mind is occupied by routine and an overflow of information.
Through painting, I trace sensory memories rooted in childhood — sounds once heard, colors and shapes seen for the first time, textures felt on the skin, and fragments of emotion retained in the body before language.
By quietly observing these sensations, I attempt to reconstruct fleeting landscapes that exist between memory and imagination.
○Biography
Born in Tokyo in 1984.
Spent five years of childhood in New Jersey, USA.
Graduated from Keio University (Department of English and American Literature), and later studied at Kuwasawa Design School.
Studied under Masao Aoki and Shinichi Fukui.
After living in Hanoi, Vietnam for several years, currently based in Tokyo, Japan.
Recent works include large-scale paintings, commissioned works for medical spaces, and exhibitions exploring memory, sensation, and spatial experience.
○Awards
2025 3rd Prize, Living Colors Exhibition 2025 (International Competition)
2024 Selected for TRiCERA “100Nin10”
2023 The 226th The Choice, Prize
2021 The 220th The Choice, Prize
2021 Oshima International Handmade Picture Book Contest 2021,Prize
2016 The Japan Book Design Award 2016,Prize
2015 Tokyo Book Jacket Illustration Competition, Prize
2014 Tokyo Book Jacket Illustration Competition, Prize
2012 Tokyo Book Jacket Illustration Competition, Prize
2012 Japan Douga Award, Prize
○Selected Commissions / Projects
Commissioned artwork for Hare Kodomo Clinic
Cover artwork for HIBIKU (2026), published by Hankyu Hanshin Real Estate
Display advertising artwork for Tokyu Plaza Akasaka
Provided tote bag design for ROOTOTE
Product design for “Kurutto Cloth”
Cover illustration for "Kodomo no Hon no Michirube" by Jiro Saito (Kodomo no Mirai-sha)
○Selected Pubilications
Featured in Fashion Illustration File (Genkosha) for three consecutive years
Solo Exhibitions
2021 Solo Exhibition E wa Sekai wo Mirumado (Tokyo, Japan)
2020 Solo Exhibition Flowers Dancing around the Tree (Tokyo, Japan)
2019 Solo Exhibition At Studio Hanaya (Tokyo, Japan)
2014 Solo Exhibition Ohana ga Yureru no wa (Tokyo, Japan)
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 100nin10(TRiCERA,Shibuya, Japan)
2021 New, . . and Continue (Baron d’Essai Latte & Art, Tokyo, Japan)
2017 Walk Gallery in Autumn (Tokyu Plaza Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan)