Tomoki Watanabe
Born in 1980. Picture book author. No published works.
At age 23, he has been exhibiting his paintings (mainly abstract watercolors), and began holding solo exhibitions not merely in Japan, but also abroad.
Besides painting, he has been presenting his works in various media such as live piano performances, poetry writing, and making bird objects. "Pepepe daily calendar," now in its ninth year, is one of his best-known works, and was once the top-selling calendars in the daily calendar category at the Daikanyama Tsutaya bookstore.
When he was in his 20s, he hitchhiked around Japan for a month or two in the summer, and has so far ridden in more than 200 cars. During his travel, he earned cash by drawing portraits wherever he went, and fallen asleep in a sleeping bag under a bridge, which is a quite a journey-like trip.
*Participation in 2021 has been postponed due to circumstances, however it has been scheduled anew for 2022.