Masako Narita

Printmaker and picture book author Member of JIAS (Japan International Artists Association) SOSIE`TE` DU SALON D`AUTOMNE Graduated from Tama Art University, Department of Painting After graduating from university, she received the Kodansha Picture Book Newcomer Award in 1992. She has published four picture books with Kodansha and nine picture books in a series with Poplar Publishing. Later, translated versions were published in Taiwan, South Korea, and China. In 2005, as a representative author of Kodansha, she exhibited the original artwork for "Yakusoku" (Promise), published in 2004, at the 2005 World Picture Book Illustration Exhibition in Brastislava, Czech Republic. Currently, the cumulative circulation of Poplar Publishing's series picture books in Japan, China, and Taiwan has exceeded 125,000 copies. In 2024, seven works in the series were published in paperback in mainland China, with 5,000 copies each, for a total of 35,000 copies. Kodansha published digital editions of "Saburo the Cat of the Ginkgo Mansion," "Another Adoro," and "The Promise" from 2020 to 2023. Having learned copperplate engraving during his university years, he restarted the craft in his early 40s, beginning production at the Machida International Print Museum's printmaking studio. He has held solo exhibitions of his prints at Ginza O Gallery UP.S and O Gallery. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions, domestic planned exhibitions, and overseas mini-print competitions in Spain, Poland, and other countries. He received the Univers des Arts Prize at the Paris International Salon 2020. In 2020, he was selected for "SALON D'AUTOMNE." He continued to receive selections, and in 2023, he was recommended as a member of the SALON D'AUTOMNE association, becoming a French member. He currently works at the Ozaki Masashi Printmaking Studio and the Machida International Print Museum's printmaking studio.