A Japanese artist, born in Hirosaki, Yoshitomo Nara obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts from Aichi Prefectural University of Arts, and went to Dusseldorf Art Academy to study in the late 1980s. He is one of the most active contemporary artists in Japan. His works are eclectic, with almost no perspective in the background, but only highlighting the characters. He is famous for his cartoonish melancholic children and animal paintings.