Asami Kiyokawa ( ja, 清川あさみ) is an

embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on c ...

artist from Japan who creates colorful designs over photographs using a needle and thread. She has collaborated with a wide variety of celebrities in Japan including rock star

Miyavi , better known by his stage name Miyavi (雅, stylized as MIYAVI), is a Japanese guitarist, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor known for his finger- slapping style of playing a guitar. He has been active since 1999, first as guitaris ...

, musical group

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with it ...

, poet Shuntaro Tanikawa and footballer

Atsuto Uchida is a Japanese former professional footballer turned coach who played as a right-back. Uchida started his career with Kashima Antlers, making his debut in 2006 at the age of 17. After four years and three J1 League Titles, Uchida moved to Germa ...

. In 2012 her exhibition in

Omotesando Hills is a shopping complex in central Tokyo built in 2005, in a series of urban developments by Mori Building. It occupies a two hundred and fifty meter stretch of Omotesandō, a shopping and (previously) residential road in Aoyama. It was designed ...

attracted a crowd of 55,000 people.

Background

Kiyokawa was born in Awaji Island, Hyogo,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in 1980. She moved to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

in the late 1990s and was soon scouted by a modeling agency. Kiyokawa modeled while studying at

Bunka Fashion College is a Japanese vocational school specializing in fashion design and related disciplines. It is headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo, and has more than 70 branches throughout Japan. History The college was founded in 1919 by Isaburō Namiki as a sma ...

Career

Kiyokawa received the Best Debutant Award in 2004. The following year she designed the cover for

Kaela Kimura is a Japanese pop rock singer, lyricist, fashion model and television presenter. Career Born in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan to a Japanese mother and British father, Kimura started working as a model in 2002 for the Japanese magazine '' Seventeen''. ...

's CD ''Real Life, Real Heart''. She worked with a number of female celebrities such as Aya Ueto,

Masami Nagasawa is a common Japanese given name and can be given to either sex. Possible writings *惟美, meaning "Considerate beauty" *真己, meaning "True self" or "Truth, Snake" *昌美, meaning "Prosperous beauty" *雅美, meaning "Gracious beauty" *� ...

and

Meisa Kuroki Satsuki Shimabukuro (Japanese: 島袋さつき, ''Shimabukuro Satsuki'', b. 28 May 1988 in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan), better known by her stage name Meisa Kuroki (Japanese: 黒木メイサ, ''Kuroki Meisa''), is a Japanese actress, model an ...

in the series "Bijo Saishu" - a collection of books celebrating the beauty of the female form. In addition to her collaborations with celebrities, she worked with brands including

Swarovski Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Austria, and has existed as a family-owned business since its founding in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski. The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal ...

Cartier Cartier may refer to: People * Cartier (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Cartier Martin (born 1984), American basketball player Places * Cartier Island, an island north-west of Australia that is part of Australia' ...

, UNIQLO,

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...

and

Gap Inc. The Gap, Inc., commonly known as Gap Inc. or Gap (stylized as GAP), is an American worldwide clothing and accessories retailer. Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The c ...

Recently she has been involved in projects with Lux and

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

. In 2012 she picked up an award as one of ''Vogue Japans "Women of the Year". A year later she published her first male collection. Known simply as ''Danshi'', she collaborated with stars like Atsuto Ichida, Exile's Takahiro and singer

Nobuaki Kaneko is a Japanese drummer and actor. He is nicknamed and N.K. He is a member of the rock band Rize. He is represented with Itoh Company and his label is Illchill. He graduated from Horikoshi High School. Kaneko's father was Johnny Yoshinaga who w ...

. In 2014 she completed her first exhibition abroad. She went to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

where she exhibited a merry-go-round as well as work from her new book ''Himitsu''. She has recently presented TV talk shows.

Publications

*Bijo Saishu - Female Beauty Collection (2006- ) *Caico (2008) *AKB48 X Bijo Saishu - Beauty Collection of AKB48 (2010) *Danshi - Men's Collection (2013) *Himitsu - Secret (2014)

Picture books

*Shiawase no Ouji - Happy Prince (2006) *Ningyo Hime -

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...

(2007) * Ginga Tetsudou no Yoru - Night on the Milky Way Railway (2009) *Mou Hitostu No Basho - Another Place (2011) *Kami sama wa iru? Inai ka? Is there a God or not? (2012) * Gusukobudori no denki - Biography of Gusukobudori (2012) *Kodomo Heya no Alice - Alice in the Nursery (2013)

References

*https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030718/http://crystals.swarovski.com/magazine/issue09/Asami-Kiyokawa/Asami-Kiyokawa.en.html *http://www.tokyoweekender.com/2014/04/asami-kiyokawa-inner-visions/ *http://100tokyo.jp/tour/asami-kiyokawa *http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/authors/illustrators/item/1522-asami-kiyokawa *http://www.japantrends.com/artist-asami-kiyokawa-creates-augmented-reality-butterflies-for-starbucks-card/

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiyokawa, Asami 1980 births Living people 21st-century Japanese women artists 21st-century Japanese artists 21st-century women textile artists 21st-century textile artists Embroidery designers Artists from Hyōgo Prefecture Japanese textile artists Japanese female models