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Friday, 25 May 2007 |
Yuusuke at work | | Welcome to Ni Fai You, the world of Yuusuke Namihira, an autistic graphic artist from Okinawa, Japan. Ni Fai You means "Thank you" in Ishigaki-Yaeyama dialect. Yuusuke wants to let the world know that he is thankful that there are people out there who recognized his talent and did everything possible to support him at doing what he is doing best, drawing colourful, inspiring, delightful computer graphics. |
At an early age Yuusuke from Yomitan (Nothern Okinawa), Japan was diagnosed with autism. Communicating with him seemed difficult, but as he grew older Yuusuke found a way to express himself. He started drawing pictures on paper. His elder sister noticed his talent and taught him how to draw pictures with computer software. As soon as he had figured out how to use the software himself, Yuusuke made some beautiful and extraordinary drawings which his father used to give to customers of his noodle shop in Yomitan. One day in 2002 one of these pictures was thrown away in a trash can at a parking lot in Kyoda. On that same day Hatsue Shimoji from Urasoe was eating an ice cream at that same parking lot and spotted the colourful drawing in that trash can when she was about to throw away the last bit of her ice cream. This unique and colourful design was exactly what she had been looking for. Hatsue needed a new design for labels for her handmade products and started asking around who made this drawing. After a long time searching she finally found her artist and made an appointment with Yuusuke in his father’s shop. Touched by his story and intrigued by his work, Hatsue decided to help Yuusuke as much as possible to give him the opportunity to develop himself and let him develop his drawings skills. Since that day in April 2002 Hatsue is Yuusuke's personal caretaker.
Working at a small desk at Hatsue's place, Yuusuke made dramatic improvements not only personally, but also artistically. His drawings appeared on covers of magazines, on posters and in pamphlets. Yuusuke’s advancements were not left unnoticed, he appeared in newspapers, on Japanese national television and held several exhibitions in Naha and Kyoto.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 15 July 2007 )
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