Hiroshi Nagai: Colouring Japan's Graphic Scene — sabukaru (2024)

In 1975, Nagai started to receive guidance from Japanese illustrator Teruhiko Yumura, and 3 years later became independent. His career really sparked from there, focusing mainly around album covers for a wide variety of musicians in Japan. Perhaps his most well-known and celebrated piece ever, is the cover art for Japanese J-Pop & City-Pop artist Eiichi Ōtaki's hit album "A LONG VACATION". The artwork to this 1981 album became so well-known that it was almost the first thing you thought of when hearing it's name, even before the music itself. The cover won SONY CBS's Golden Disc award, establishing his status and making his art-style even more concrete than it already was.

Although A LONG VACATION is probably his greatest work, Nagai also made artwork for many other artists, both big and small. Hideki Saijo, Southern All Stars, Sunny Day Service /@sunny_day_service, and even Hiroshi Fujiwara /@fujiwarahiroshiare just some of the names that he has done work with.

Aside from album art, Nagai has done work for ads, commercials, events, and more. He also holds exhibitions, and has released a book which showcases his collection of works, titled "Time goes by...".