Yoshimi KATAHIRA, born in 1974 in Tokyo, Japan

I have always drawn.

When I was 19, I was working as a Mangaka's assistant.

2 years later, I became a freelance manga author and illustrator.

When I was 26, I had to stop drawing to treat tenosynovitis and social anxiety disorder.

My life has completely changed! I worked in several fields: employee in an office, saleswoman of clothes, service employee in the restoration, etc. And then I started traveling all over the world with my little backpack and I discovered France in particular.

When I was 28, I went to university in Japan to study French culture.

5 years later, in 2007, I moved to Paris as a student to learn French and to study literature at university.

In 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster occurred. I lost part of my family. To keep my spirits up, I participated in charity events in Paris for the victims of the earthquake. At that time, I started giving manga lessons requested by my friends to children at charity events.  

The following year, 12 years after having stopped drawing, I finally resumed my activities around manga.  

Since 2012,  I set up a project to illustrate old Japanese tales. Through this work, I discovered my identity and was born the consistent idea of making invisible things that absolutely exist.

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And my challenge continues!