Noriyoshi Ohrai
Noriyoshi Ohrai was a Japanese illustrator. He is most notable for illustrating the international poster for The Empire Strikes Back and several Godzilla film posters during the Heisei era.
Ohrai's prolific work includes the illustration of over 1,300 book and magazine covers, video game box art, movie posters and portraits.
Career
Ohrai started his career as an illustrator after dropping out of a painting course at Tokyo University of the Arts in 1957. He first began to exhibit his paintings in Ginza in 1960 however he was unable to sell a single piece of artwork. In 1962, Ohrai joined a startup advertising company called the Tokyu Agency.Over the course of his career, Ohrai illustrated over 1,300 book covers alone, and was known for completing artwork commissions within 3 days. He was wide-reaching in his work, creating photorealistic military illustrations for historical magazines, sci-fi paintings for movies and novels, and portraits of historical figures such as U.S. Presidents and Japanese warriors.
In 1980, Ohrai created multiple illustrations based on Star Wars for Tokuma Shoten's Definitive Edition Book on Space Sci-Fi Movies. This caught the eye of the film's creator George Lucas. At Lucas' request, Ohrai illustrated the international poster for The Empire Strikes Back, which was primarily featured for advertising the film in Japan and Australia. The poster was recognized globally and caused Ohrai to earn the Seiun Award at the Japanese Sci-Fi Convention in 1980. As a result, Ohrai was asked to commemorate the Japanese dub of Star Wars in 1982 by designing a poster for its theatrical debut.
After his retirement in 2011, highlights of Ohrai's work were published in three collection books across 2014 and 2015, and exhibitions were displayed in his hometown of Miyazaki. In 2013, Ohrai was awarded the Miyazaki Prefecture Culture Prize for his contribution to art in Japan.
Personal life
Noriyoshi Ohrai was born in Akashi, Japan on November 17, 1935. At age 19, he studied painting at Tokyo University of the Arts before dropping out in 1957. In 1973, he moved to Miyazaki.Ohrai had a private lifestyle and only shared himself through self-portraits, with no public photographs of him in circulation. In 2011, Ohrai had a stroke which prevented him from illustrating and forced him into retirement.
On October 27, 2015, Ohrai died at the age of 79 from pneumonia. His son, Taro Ohrai, is an artist in Japan.
Selected works
Art collection books
Illustrations by Noriyoshi Ohrai Future War 198X Illustrations Collection by Noriyoshi Ohrai Illustrations 2: The World of Demons by Noriyoshi Ohrai The Beauties in Myths by Noriyoshi Ohrai Noriyoshi Ohrai: The Illustrator The Green Universe by Noriyoshi Ohrai- ''Noriyoshi Ohrai II: Corridor of Memories 1966-1984''