After a totally unplanned and lucky chance encounter with renowned manga artist/illustrator Katsuya Terada (寺田克也) at his exhibition in Jingumae, I certainly wasn’t expecting to bump into him again, but that was exactly what happened when I visited Tsutaya Books at Ginza a week later.

The Tsutaya Books at Ginza Six is one of my regular stops every time I’m in Tokyo because of its excellent collection of art books, cool deco and just otherwise pleasant ambience. It just so happened that Terada had a live-drawing session to promote his new art book ‘This And That’ on the same day I visited.

Dropped by Tsutaya Books at Ginza Six after the Shirow Masamune / Ghost In The Shell genga exhibition and Katsuya Terada was rakugaking. ? pic.twitter.com/vqAwojqJQl

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It was a weekday and so the bookstore wasn’t terribly crowded, and all the better because I was able to observe the rakugaking master in closer proximity as he worked his sharpie magik. Anyone who has tried their hand at drawing big pieces of art work will know how hard it is to get the proportions right because we are so used to drawing at a much smaller scale, but Terada’s practiced hand make it look super easy.

(above & below) Also present that day was another established illustrator Yoneyama Mai. You can check out her art book ‘EYE’.

Definitely super lucky to have met Terada twice during my spring trip. I was able to get him to autograph my copy of his new art book ‘This And That’ at the Jingumae exhibition the week before. Read more about it here.


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