Artist Gallery

Youchan

Born in 1968 in Nishio-City, Aichi-Prefecture, Japan. After graduating Art School in Nagoya, Ms. Youchan started working at a graphic design company. In 1991, she became independent as a freelance graphic designer, and gradually shifted her career focus to illustration. She co-founded Togoru Co.,Ltd. in 2000; they have mainly produced book covers and illustrations up to the present time. They also hold a bi-annual exhibition at a gallery in Tokyo.

Some of their well-known book covers include "Mizu no naka, Hikari no soko" (Inside the Water, on the Bottom of the Light) by Masao Hirata published by Tokyo Sogensha Co., Ltd., "Risuko no SF, Tokidoki Kaigo Nikki" (Risuko's SF, Sometimes Caregiver's Diary) by Mari Kotani published by Ibunsha Co., Ltd., "2010 TOKON10 Souvenir Book" by The 49th Japan SF Convention, "Other Cafes, Other Books" by Takayuki Tatsumi published by Kenkyusya Co., Ltd., SF Magazine September 2010 issue (Hayakawa Publishing Corporation), etc. She has also designed a steampunk themed smartphone user interface "Steamfone" for Foneclay, which was produced by ARTas1 and will be available for sale from Summer 2012.

Awards received include being selected for Ballistic Publishing's "PAINTER - The World's Finest Painter Art" (Canada / 2006) and The Readers' Award of the 20th SF Magazine (Hayakawa Publishing Corporation) - Illustrators Category (Japan / 2009).

Ms. Youchan is also a member of SFWJ (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan).

Visit Youchan at

• Youchan's website, www.youchan.com
• On Facebook at www.facebook.com/youchan.illustration
• The Togoru company page at togoru.net
• Her agent's page at artas1.com/youchan.