Jan 26, 2021
Japanese artist and children’s book author-illustrator Mitsumasa Anno, known for his highly detailed illustrations containing visual tricks, humorous elements, and math concepts, died on December 24. He was 94.
Anno was born March 20, 1926, in Shimane Prefecture, in western Japan. He grew up in Tsuwano, a small town surrounded by mountains, where his talent for drawing and an aptitude for mathematics began to shine, and where his dream of becoming an artist first took root.
In a 1983
Horn Book interview, Anno noted that even as a young boy he had always longed to journey beyond the isolation of his small community. “Because my world was cut off from the outside world, first by the mountains and then by the ocean, the desire to go and see what lay on the other side grew stronger,” he said. Anno got his first opportunity to leave home and explore when he attended a regional high school where he studied art and drawing. He would later document impressions of