Noriyoshi Ohrai

Noriyoshi Ohrai
生頼 範義
Self-portrait of Noriyoshi Ohrai
Born	(1935-11-17)November 17, 1935 Hyogo, Japan
Died	October 27, 2015(2015-10-27) (aged 79) Miyazaki, Japan
Occupation	Illustrator
Years active	1960–2015
Era	Shōwa era Heisei era
Children	Taro Ohrai
Awards	Seiun Award

Noriyoshi Ohrai (Japanese: 生頼 範義, Hepburn: Ōrai Noriyoshi; November 17, 1935 – October 27, 2015) was a Japanese illustrator. He is most notable for illustrating the international poster for The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and several Godzilla film posters during the Heisei era.^[1][2]

Ohrai's prolific work includes the illustration of over 1,300 book and magazine covers, video game box art, movie posters and portraits.^[3]

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.^[4] In 1962, Ohrai joined a startup advertising company called the Tokyu Agency.^[3]

Over the course of his career, Ohrai illustrated over 1,300 book covers alone, and was known for completing artwork commissions within 3 days.^[3] 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.^[5] 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.^[6] As a result, Ohrai was asked to commemorate the Japanese dub of Star Wars in 1982 by designing a poster for its theatrical debut.^[7]

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.^{[8][9][10][11]} In 2013, Ohrai was awarded the Miyazaki Prefecture Culture Prize for his contribution to art in Japan.^[6]

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.^[12] In 2011, Ohrai had a stroke which prevented him from illustrating and forced him into retirement.^[6]

On October 27, 2015, Ohrai died at the age of 79 from pneumonia.^[13] His son, Taro Ohrai, is an artist in Japan.

• Illustrations by Noriyoshi Ohrai (1980, Tokuma Shoten) ISBN 4-19-402116-9
• Future War 198X Illustrations Collection by Noriyoshi Ohrai (1982, Kodansha) ISBN 4-06-108067-9
• Illustrations 2: The World of Demons by Noriyoshi Ohrai (1983, Tokuma Shoten) ISBN 4-19-402685-3
• The Beauties in Myths by Noriyoshi Ohrai (1988, Tokuma Shoten) ISBN 4-19-413716-7
• Noriyoshi Ohrai: The Illustrator (2014, Miyazaki Bunka Honpo) ISBN 978-4-9907484-0-1
• The Green Universe by Noriyoshi Ohrai (2014, Gentosha) ISBN 978-4-7683-0583-6
• Noriyoshi Ohrai II: Corridor of Memories 1966-1984 (2015, Miyazaki Bunka Honpo) ISBN 978-4-9907484-3-2

• スター・ウォーズ 帝国の逆襲・チラシ Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine – ぴあ
• 日本沈没 (2006)・チラシ Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine – ぴあ
• Noriyoshi Ohrai Exhibition page – English version
• "Noriyoshi Ohrai Exhibition". facebook.com. Retrieved November 1, 2015.