Kiyoshi Yamashita and the Power of Drawing What You See

In Japan, there is a famous painter who didn’t receive formal art education. His name is Kiyoshi Yamashita. His works are based on what he saw during his travels.

He is known for his chigiri-e. This is a style of art made by tearing and pasting small pieces of colored paper. He used this style to create images of fireworks, festivals, and scenes from his travels. His works are colorful, detailed, and easy to remember.

In this column, I’d like to introduce Kiyoshi Yamashita’s life and works.

He was born on March 10, 1922, in Asakusa, Tokyo. When he was a child, he became ill and later had a speech disorder and an intellectual disability. School was difficult for him, so he entered a care facility called Yahata Gakuen, where he found chigiri-e. There, he found a new way to express what he saw.

Later, he began to travel around Japan and continued making art. He tore small pieces of colored paper and pasted them in layers to create his works. This became his best-known style. He created many works depicting fireworks, festivals, and landscapes.

In the 1950s, he appeared on television. After that, he became well known in Japan. Even today, his works are shown in exhibitions and books.

I first saw Kiyoshi Yamashita’s works when I was recovering from an illness. At that time, I had also started drawing on my own. I had never studied art, so I didn’t feel confident about my drawings.

One day, I saw a picture of his fireworks chigiri-e in a magazine. I saw many small pieces of paper layered together. From far away, it looked like real fireworks in the night sky. From up close, I could clearly see each piece, its color, and its shape. Then I noticed how he used small pieces of paper to create the light and depth. It felt warm and full of life.

After that, I learned more about Kiyoshi Yamashita. I found out that he had a disability and did not receive formal art education. Until then, I had thought that people needed special training to make meaningful art. Because I had never studied art either, his story felt personal to me. I had often felt that not studying art made my drawings less valuable. I was surprised to learn that he kept making art even in those circumstances. That made me feel that I could also keep drawing what I saw, even without special training.

After reading about him, I started to look more carefully at the things around me. Before learning about him, I had not paid much attention to those small moments. I began to notice small details, such as the color of the evening sky, the shape of lights in the street, and the way shadows fell on buildings. I began to think that even ordinary scenes, such as lights at night or the sky after sunset, could become part of a drawing.

Learning about Kiyoshi Yamashita changed how I think about my own drawings. I came to feel that I could keep drawing what I see, even without formal art training. Because of that, I want to capture the scenes and small details that stay in my mind. For me, that means I can continue drawing the things I see and remember in my own way.