Yukio Sakurai1948~ 櫻井幸雄

SAKURAI Yukio is a Japanese Western-style painter born in 1948 in Yunotani Village (now Uonuma City), Niigata Prefecture. He worked in agriculture for about 25 years before fully devoting himself to painting, developing a distinctive style largely on his own. He was awarded at the Yasui Prize Exhibition in 1986 and traveled to France in 1991, producing lithographs at a Paris studio. He received the Minister of Education Prize at the Shinkozo Exhibition in 1996 and the Grand Prize at the Kawakami Shiro Memorial National Children's Picture Exhibition in 2000. He is widely loved for his warm depictions of children, families, and the snow-country landscapes of his homeland.