Missing Page type: KR - Artikelsida

It's not good to be over clever when you draw, thinks the Japanese artist Ryoji Arai, and that's why he sometimes draws with his wrong hand. He has even drawn with his head at times, however that's possible. He wants his pictures to be simple and rather basic. And that's what they are: but they're also very beautiful, with strong, vibrant colours.

He knew from an early age that he wanted to devote his life to drawing and making books, even though there weren't many picture books in Japan when he was a child. He went around bookshops looking at the ones he could find, sniffing them and stroking them, making up his mind that this was where his future lay.

Born in 1956, Ryoji started school at the age of six. But he didn't want to: all he wanted to do was to sit at home and draw. As an adult he's tried to work out why he was so opposed to school, but he can't really put it into words. School was too close, he says, as if that explains anything!
Gradually, however, he got more used to school and then went on to art college.

He has produced almost a hundred books both for children and adults. Some of them he has written himself, others he has illustrated for other people. He has also worked with advertising, magazines and stage design. And he's also thinking of making his own cartoons to compete with the Disney Corporation.

His own books are often about the importance of taking things slowly, a little at a time, and some of them have titles that reflect this. His books have pictures that you can get lost in, making several exciting discoveries along the way. Unfortunately, not many of them have been translated into English, only A Forest Picture Book.

Books to read by Ryôji Arai

Basu ni notte or Taking the Bus

This picture book is a real explosion of colour. It starts off with a boy sitting waiting in a bus shelter in what looks like a desert, with a clear blue sky and red sun. When will the bus arrive?
Lots of people and cyclists pass by, but no bus. It seems like fun just to sit there and wait. Then night falls, the sky pitch black and full of golden stars, and the boy lies down on the bench to sleep. Dawn fills the sky with bright yellow light, but there's still no bus.
Finally the bus really does arrive, but it's not quite what the boy had expected.

Su-Su To Neru-Neru

(Japanese title)

This is a book about two children who find it hard to sleep and tell each other stories. The stories come to life, and they go on an exciting adventure by way of a clock.
The text says nothing about their experiences: that's something you get from the illustrations, in fantastic colour and full of details. Sometimes dark and rather scary, sometimes full of happiness and light. Su-Su thinks the whole thing is a little creepy, but Neru-Neru finds it all great fun.
The book ends with them falling asleep and everything going dark. But out in the darkness the clock awaits them, promising further adventures in the nights to come.

Sonotsumori or The Imaginary Forest

There's an open space in the forest where all the animals get together to talk. They want to use the space for something more than talking, but what? All of them have different ideas. Can it be turned into an ocean? Or a mountain? Or a house for ghosts?
Everything the animals suggest can be seen in the illustrations, which are imaginative and very colourful, expressing so much more than the actual text.
Finally the animals agree on an unexpected solution that all of them are happy with.