I recently made a video about what a typical Tokyo neighbourhood is like and needed a few Japanese related clip art to illustrate what I was talking about. That's when my wife told me about www.irasutoya.com, a site where anyone can get quality clip art for basically free. Ever since using it, I found out that virtually everyone in Japan has either seen or used the clip art. Even more surprising was that everything is drawn by one person: Mifune Takashi. How did Takashi-san's illustrations become Japan's de facto clip art? Watch the vid and find out. And no, even though I love Takashi-san's clip art, this is most definitely not a sponsored video. But he was kind enough to let us use all the images for free, despite using over 100 of them! What a boss!
Recently I made a virtual excursion for geography lessons (I am a teacher) and it was so hard to find clip art that had a similar style. I literally spend weeks to search for clip art and had to throw some ideas out of the window, because I could not find enaugh fitting clipart for it.
Thanks for making this video Greg! And thank you to takashi-san as well! We appreciate a generous gesture! This was so much more heartwarming that I thought.
A blogger once confirmed this directly with Takashi-san: his arts omit buttons, pockets, etc., so that there is no sense of discomfort even when they are reversed. Plus, the color scheme complies with CUD (Color Universal Design), so that even color-blind people will not be confused. All of them are designed to be cute, but based on solid rules.
@@johnstevenson5084 What I wanted to convey is that the illustrations are designed to be as comfortable as possible, even when flipped left or right. Of course, there are exceptions, such as letters and certain shapes, but they are designed to be as universal as possible.
I thought the Japanese Government standardized the art style they use in a country, but it was just because of one man. People of Japan need to give an award to this man. Thanks Irasutoya-sensei!
I actually thought this is done by some big company to make as many as possible so everyone use and they will get a lot of money. Nope, just one man that been drawing since 2012.
Dude I was living in Japan for a year until I one day realised that litterally EVERYWHERE the cliparts looked good and consistent. And for some reason I never questioned howww? Well, now I know. Thank you! 👍🏼
Yeah this is really amazing! I kinda want to bring his works overseas to where I'm living too... Honestly, this is amazing, and I would love to pay a small sum to support him
I feel like his clipart style has been around for earlier than 2012! This just goes to show how important art and design is, and how being selfless and kind results in a better society!
I never knew that these clipart were made by just one person. Since these were so many of them, I always assume there are more one person making them but some how they would keep the same style. Thanks a lot for making this video and thanks Takashi-san.
A video about clip art, using only clip art for imagery. That’s so meta! But seriously, Irasutoya makes my job as a public teacher in Japan so much easier. We have strict rules about use of copyrighted materials in my office, I basically have to explain where any imagery I use comes from. But with Irasutoya stuff, there’s no need since it has a particular look that everyone recognizes. And yes, I sometimes use it in videos for RUclips too. 🍻
I feel like people outside Japan wouldn't know about this topic, but seriously, if you're in Japan, this is the illustration/clipart used for eeeeeeverythiiiiing
This video explains a lot. I've seen this art style used here and there over the years. But I really started wondering when I saw both Vtubers and translators use the same style clipart in their thumbnails.
Irasutoya has a huge variety of clip art images. For example, "the uncanny valley,” “a fixed game," "a puffer fish that spits water," “people who play with oil floating in ramen soup,” “people who is seen playing with VR game by others," “an old man who pretends to take medicine”and so on... It makes me wonder what kind of clip art images Irasutoya doesn't have.
I left Japan in 2011, so in the last few years I'd been totally puzzled as to where all this clip art had suddenly sprung up from and why everyone was using it! Explains a lot, thanks.
What’s also awesome about Irasuto-Ya’s body of work is that you can find illustrations on _anything and everything_ . It’s become such a favorite pastime for people online to find the most obscure subjects on his site that it’s kind of become a meme. Here are some examples: • Second generation cult member • Kids playing with busted portable consoles • Horseshoe crab blood • A person conjoining oil bubbles in ramen broth • Office workers asleep underwater with tropical fish • Blue curry • Fish that’s been eaten messily • An eye for an eye (my personal favorite!)
I’ve always wondered why my Japanese teachers’ presentations had the same clipart style… thanks for the vid! I’ll be using this amazing dude’s clipart next time I need some
I imagine how proud he must be seeing his art literally everywhere! And also, it's so cute, I love it. This video is the best type: Things I didn't want I wanted to know. Thanks Greg and thank you Takashi-san!
This is the video I didn't know I wanted. I have been big into Japanese Vtubers lately and had always noticed how they would use the same style illustrations as props, etc.
Irasutoya has over 25,000 clip art images. Mifune-san had been updating clip art daily for nine years. However, in February 2021, he announced that he would be updating clip art irregularly. This announcement was also reported in the Japanese media. On Twitter in Japan, there was a lot of generous tribute to him. For Japanese people, Mifune-san's clip art is now part of Japanese social infrastructure.
Takashi Mefune will be in our heart, my heart. This guy made thousands of illustrations for FREE, not like other companies, this is the only surviving kind people and almost no one knows who he is. I found him like 2 months ago when I was using Canva, trying to find something that fit in the same style was very HARD. This man saved my life!
I've been unsuccessfully trying to google this artstyle for so long, ever since I've noticed it was so ubiquitous in anything Japan related. Thank you so much!
I'm a graphic designer and has always love these Japanese clip art illustration and wondered the same thing. I tried finding it Reddit and got nothing. Thank you so much for filling me on this!
No wonder when I did my Japanese lessons, all my lecture notes had this specific clipart. An exchange student from Japan even felt surprised when she found out that these clipart were being used in my lessons. I see that it's a really specific Japanese trend. I always wondered where these clipart came from. Now I'm tempted to use them too!
The Japanese language school I go to used this clip part in their textbooks so I’ve asked them for a link to it and I’ve been using it for the most random things ever since. Love this style and how they have art for pretty much anything imaginable.
Irasutoya is a LIFESAVING as a teacher. I'm so glad I got into Japanese language up to a good level just for this reason lol. I put them EVERYWHERE because I make my own lessons. There's indeed always the perfect image to illustrate what you want. Sometimes even better ideas come up. He very recently added a beta version of English searching! I almost go there everyday and I'm accumulating the cliparts on my computer. I am so, so afraid that one day it won't be available anymore. Or not that accessible. I'd honestly get quite depressed.
When I found いらすとや it felt like I found the key to the deepest secrets of the universe. It still feels like some strange dream sometimes to see such specific illustrations for any occasion, in the exact same style, everywhere in Japan/ the Japanese web. Definitely a good subject for a video like this
I'm a new English teacher in Japan and have been creating flashcards & worksheets for my students and saw this clipart in every classroom. I JUST found this website. It's so helpful for lessons!
Finally, this answers the question I've had since living in Japan. These clip art appear everywhere - from university club posters, on neighbourhood association signs, on national TV and news programs and social media mosts. Such a simple answer too haha
Im Japanese and I thought this is really intriguing topic. Cause I am a Malaysian uni student, when I was preparing for presentation, every stickers other stundets use looked pretty different from what I had ever seen!! I didn't know that there is such an interesting background! thank you
So basically Japan has consistent, high quality (and inclusive!) clip art is because one man decided he wanted to do this. What a legend. Thank you Mifune Takashi-san!
I have used Irasutoya for a very long time, I just had to find the correct Japanese words for searching very very very specific term like "progress in work" gives image of "woman in work uniform climbing glass ladder of success beneath everyone else", etc. Since this video has come out, Irasutoya now has a あいまい検索 search in English! Thank you so much for this video, and I really want everyone else in the world to know about Irasutoya and support the artist!
I first spotted this clip art when I started Japan Foundation Japanese course in 2017. Every course related material contained at least a couple of images. Never occurred to me there's only one person behind it all though! It is a video I never knew I needed, it all makes sense now. Thank you!
That man literally made every possible thing that's in Japan into cliparts, even if it's some questional theme that's probably from someone's fever dream.
I can finally rest easy after this video! I recently finished my first semester of Japanese class and my native teacher used these images all the time. I was always so curious as to where they came from.
I’ve always been super curious about where Japanese people were finding these consistently cute pictures! I couldn’t find the source, so I assumed that (somehow) everyone in Japan had learned to draw in this specific way, and that there were hundreds of artists doing these images. But now I’m astonished that not only have you pointed me to the site were I can find these in high resolution, but that they’re basically free and were all drawn by ONE PERSON?!!!?! Bloody amazing! Thank you!
OMG I've seen this clip art adorn several notices at train stations, restaurants, and indeed even NHK. How did I not realize this? Thanks for making this video and thanks Mifune Takashi-san!
I was just curious because I kept seeing vtubers use this art in thumbnails and videos etc. and now it makes sense lol. What a cool and hardworking guy for making this.
Well well well... your video has solved a small mystery! I may or may not have recently become addicted to the various "SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Japanese Illustration" RUclips channels. Not so much for the puzzle aspect but to my surprise also for the artwork; after a few months I feel as if the artwork is pretty much a master class in drawing. Of course that made me wonder who the artists were... thank you so much for helping solve part of this mystery!
I see this art style in Japan airport and everything else even the internet and have always been wondering who made them cuz it looks so good. This clears it up :)
I always noticed that the clipart in Japan looked really cute and uniform, and thought it was just a cultural style. But the fact it was just one man is mind blowing!!
This website has become so useful for my presentations at uni. My classmates LOVE them because they are so consistant, so I help them find the ones they need since I'm the only Japanese speaker.
I first noticed this clip art because the FFXIV devs would always use it to demonstrate certain points. I always wondered if they made it or hired someone to make it. Glad to know it’s source!
wow thank you for this video, as a graphic design student this is genuinely so inspiring and i kind of wish he did do interviews so i can hear more about his process. Thank you for the insight in this video. his clean and universal appeal (and business strategy) really inspire and motivate me as i learn more about what makes great design
I just recently learned Japanese in college and I was always curious where my sensei got all the art for her slides. I really enjoyed all of them so it’s cool to learn the origins of them
About 2 years ago I started seeing this clip art used in America. I just thought it was cute art they had pulled. It was in a heavily Asian area so they probably just brought it over with them from Japan and it eventually caught on with everyone else nearby. Crazy to find out it was just one guy. Would explain why the style is so consistent.
This is the video I’ve always needed but never knew I did! I’ve been watching Japanese RUclipsrs for a while now and never knew where they got their clip art so this was a real eye opener. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been wondering about this for some time now! I see this artwork EVERYWHERE and it’s consistently cute and well done. Thanks for posting this video, mystery solved!
I've always wondered where vtuber gets their clipart. And they never seen to run out either. Until there's another set of clipart as good as this, I'm sticking to irasutoya. Now that i know what it's called.
I had actually realized that in V-tuber videos I would see the same cliparts popping up all the time, but I didn't think too much of it. Makes so much sense now
This is a really well done video you made !! It was so cool to see all of the different and many types of clip arts images you used in this video !! . Thanks to you I think I might as well check out his clip art you featured in this video !! . This was a really cool video you made and I enjoyed and liked it very much !! . Keep up the amazing hard work on your RUclips channel !!! And on your other RUclips channels !! . I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future !! . Oh just wondering but , will you do a video where you talk about the gear you use and how you make your videos . So that we can see a behind the scenes of how you make your RUclips videos ? ! . Thanks !! .
@@LifeWhereImFrom Yeah you’re welcome anytime !! . Ah ok got it ! That’s understandable ! Well then I can’t wait to go see that gear update video when the time comes 📷 !! .
Sooooo many native English teachers in Korea use these too! It's usually our go to since we can find more "eastern" images and it's so varied. Thank you to Mifune Takashi and Irasutoya!
Thank you for explaining this! I've been seeing Takashi-san's clip art around, but never knew where they came from. I may have to look into them, as I have a project that needs a few in-universe pieces of media filled in, and having a consistent, appealing style would help them blend in so much better.
I've been consuming a lot of Japanese media lately to aid my Japanese lessons and I think this will help me to further illustrate everything I've learned! Thank you for sharing this with us!
When I first heard about irasutoya, my mind was blown! I only lived one year in Japan, but still these clip arts were so familiar to me. I really felt your excitement in the video haha! 😄
Well done, Greg. I was wondering how everyone in Japan uses the same style of Japanese clip art. Your video clearly explains everything. By the way! The Japanese Live concert culture also impress me. How energetic are the audiences and especially their uniformity when shaking their light sticks make me so very curious and perplexed: I keep wondering, how they can do that for the length of the entire concert. If you would like to watch a Japanese Live concert, maybe that could make an interesting topic for your future video. (…would you be so kind, pleeease? ^_^)
If I could get permission I would make a video. Record companies are so restrictive about copyright though, so I suspect that unless I had some good connections, I wouldn't be able to do. But would be interesting.
The glowstick dance thing is called wotage or otage if done by fans to cheer an idol at a live concert, and called CYALUME dance or CYALUME performance if done as a standalone performance. CYALUME is a brand of glowstick, written as サイリウム (sairiumu) in Japanese and pronounced sai-liyeum or sai-li-oo-mu.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
I recently made a video about what a typical Tokyo neighbourhood is like and needed a few Japanese related clip art to illustrate what I was talking about. That's when my wife told me about www.irasutoya.com, a site where anyone can get quality clip art for basically free. Ever since using it, I found out that virtually everyone in Japan has either seen or used the clip art. Even more surprising was that everything is drawn by one person: Mifune Takashi. How did Takashi-san's illustrations become Japan's de facto clip art? Watch the vid and find out.
And no, even though I love Takashi-san's clip art, this is most definitely not a sponsored video. But he was kind enough to let us use all the images for free, despite using over 100 of them! What a boss!
Recently I made a virtual excursion for geography lessons (I am a teacher) and it was so hard to find clip art that had a similar style. I literally spend weeks to search for clip art and had to throw some ideas out of the window, because I could not find enaugh fitting clipart for it.
Thanks for making this video Greg! And thank you to takashi-san as well! We appreciate a generous gesture! This was so much more heartwarming that I thought.
So you have been paying the guy ever since u started to use aside from this commercial video?
L Silva he said It was free.
FREEEEEEEE I LIKE FREEEEEE
A blogger once confirmed this directly with Takashi-san: his arts omit buttons, pockets, etc., so that there is no sense of discomfort even when they are reversed. Plus, the color scheme complies with CUD (Color Universal Design), so that even color-blind people will not be confused.
All of them are designed to be cute, but based on solid rules.
He is so considerate of his potential audience!
That is quality work, that is!
Never heard of CUD standard until now
What do you mean by buttons and pockets?
@@johnstevenson5084 What I wanted to convey is that the illustrations are designed to be as comfortable as possible, even when flipped left or right. Of course, there are exceptions, such as letters and certain shapes, but they are designed to be as universal as possible.
I thought the Japanese Government standardized the art style they use in a country, but it was just because of one man.
People of Japan need to give an award to this man. Thanks Irasutoya-sensei!
National artist award if possible.
I actually thought this is done by some big company to make as many as possible so everyone use and they will get a lot of money. Nope, just one man that been drawing since 2012.
Irasutoya is the website. Takashi-sensei is the artist.
Dude I was living in Japan for a year until I one day realised that litterally EVERYWHERE the cliparts looked good and consistent. And for some reason I never questioned howww? Well, now I know. Thank you! 👍🏼
Yeah this is really amazing! I kinda want to bring his works overseas to where I'm living too... Honestly, this is amazing, and I would love to pay a small sum to support him
Same! I never thought much about it - it just has always seemed to be a consistent aspect of Japanese culture.
i've always thought it was because the government asked just 1 studio to do it and made something like a contract. apparently i was wrong lol
Mert neresinde yaşıyorsun Japonya'nın?
@@neko7309 su an almanyada yasiyorum. bir senelik tokyo da yasamistim
If Takashi-sensei isn't filthy rich yet he is rightfully should be, His stuff is everywhere. It's incredible he made it all by himself.
I feel like his clipart style has been around for earlier than 2012! This just goes to show how important art and design is, and how being selfless and kind results in a better society!
And Japan has a LONG history of quality graphic icons.
@@TheNewGreenIsBlue japan has very delicate and intricate minds that they have.
I never knew that these clipart were made by just one person. Since these were so many of them, I always assume there are more one person making them but some how they would keep the same style. Thanks a lot for making this video and thanks Takashi-san.
Never under estimate what a japanese person can do for a dedicated craft
A video about clip art, using only clip art for imagery. That’s so meta!
But seriously, Irasutoya makes my job as a public teacher in Japan so much easier. We have strict rules about use of copyrighted materials in my office, I basically have to explain where any imagery I use comes from. But with Irasutoya stuff, there’s no need since it has a particular look that everyone recognizes. And yes, I sometimes use it in videos for RUclips too. 🍻
Now make a video about Japanese sound effects using only sound effects.
@@HandleToBeDetermined That actually might be fun to check out all the SFX.
You know there's a cap on how many illustrations you are legally allowed to use for free right?
@@HandleToBeDetermined probably instruments is enough
@@AnnaMorimoto it's per project, not per person.
I feel like people outside Japan wouldn't know about this topic, but seriously, if you're in Japan, this is the illustration/clipart used for eeeeeeverythiiiiing
Actually i was kinda curious about this because ive seem vtubers use his clip art haha.
@@crimsama2451 hololive : pekomama, izutsu (from polka densetsu), and more… 😆
I often see it used on Twitter by all kinds of Japanese people and entities
It's everywhere, sometimes not even on Japanese content!
Now it's starting to be used overseas as well.
This video explains a lot. I've seen this art style used here and there over the years. But I really started wondering when I saw both Vtubers and translators use the same style clipart in their thumbnails.
I wanted to look up more info about the clipart but I didn't know what to google. This video answered my past curiosity and more
Same
Same XD
@@dandanthedandan7558 oh heyy nice to see you here. Love your clips!
@@ivandiam2merayap Thx, glad you like them
Irasutoya has a huge variety of clip art images. For example, "the uncanny valley,” “a fixed game," "a puffer fish that spits water," “people who play with oil floating in ramen soup,” “people who is seen playing with VR game by others," “an old man who pretends to take medicine”and so on...
It makes me wonder what kind of clip art images Irasutoya doesn't have.
Probably explicit ones
I left Japan in 2011, so in the last few years I'd been totally puzzled as to where all this clip art had suddenly sprung up from and why everyone was using it! Explains a lot, thanks.
What’s also awesome about Irasuto-Ya’s body of work is that you can find illustrations on _anything and everything_ . It’s become such a favorite pastime for people online to find the most obscure subjects on his site that it’s kind of become a meme.
Here are some examples:
• Second generation cult member
• Kids playing with busted portable consoles
• Horseshoe crab blood
• A person conjoining oil bubbles in ramen broth
• Office workers asleep underwater with tropical fish
• Blue curry
• Fish that’s been eaten messily
• An eye for an eye (my personal favorite!)
I’ve always wondered why my Japanese teachers’ presentations had the same clipart style… thanks for the vid! I’ll be using this amazing dude’s clipart next time I need some
literally the Kevin Macleod of Japanese clipart, Takashi's stuff is everywhere and useful
I imagine how proud he must be seeing his art literally everywhere! And also, it's so cute, I love it. This video is the best type: Things I didn't want I wanted to know. Thanks Greg and thank you Takashi-san!
This is the video I didn't know I wanted. I have been big into Japanese Vtubers lately and had always noticed how they would use the same style illustrations as props, etc.
Finally, a comment that mention vtuber
Been wondering about that for a while since I saw these clips on vtubers or their translated clip
Yeah I always see these types of drawings on Korone clips and I was wondering what the deal with them was
Irasutoya has over 25,000 clip art images.
Mifune-san had been updating clip art daily for nine years. However, in February 2021, he announced that he would be updating clip art irregularly. This announcement was also reported in the Japanese media. On Twitter in Japan, there was a lot of generous tribute to him.
For Japanese people, Mifune-san's clip art is now part of Japanese social infrastructure.
Takashi Mefune will be in our heart, my heart. This guy made thousands of illustrations for FREE, not like other companies, this is the only surviving kind people and almost no one knows who he is. I found him like 2 months ago when I was using Canva, trying to find something that fit in the same style was very HARD. This man saved my life!
DUde... you just saved my life with this video. I normally do demos at my company, and this clip arts are gonna rock the ground during my next demo!!
Irasutoya is precious and cute, and I wished we used that clipart more in the states.
He introduced it so I'm definitely using it whenever I need to!
I've been unsuccessfully trying to google this artstyle for so long, ever since I've noticed it was so ubiquitous in anything Japan related. Thank you so much!
I'm a graphic designer and has always love these Japanese clip art illustration and wondered the same thing. I tried finding it Reddit and got nothing. Thank you so much for filling me on this!
Basically one man carried the entire Japanese clip art market
No wonder when I did my Japanese lessons, all my lecture notes had this specific clipart. An exchange student from Japan even felt surprised when she found out that these clipart were being used in my lessons. I see that it's a really specific Japanese trend. I always wondered where these clipart came from. Now I'm tempted to use them too!
The Japanese language school I go to used this clip part in their textbooks so I’ve asked them for a link to it and I’ve been using it for the most random things ever since. Love this style and how they have art for pretty much anything imaginable.
Irasutoya is a LIFESAVING as a teacher. I'm so glad I got into Japanese language up to a good level just for this reason lol. I put them EVERYWHERE because I make my own lessons. There's indeed always the perfect image to illustrate what you want. Sometimes even better ideas come up.
He very recently added a beta version of English searching!
I almost go there everyday and I'm accumulating the cliparts on my computer. I am so, so afraid that one day it won't be available anymore. Or not that accessible. I'd honestly get quite depressed.
When I found いらすとや it felt like I found the key to the deepest secrets of the universe. It still feels like some strange dream sometimes to see such specific illustrations for any occasion, in the exact same style, everywhere in Japan/ the Japanese web.
Definitely a good subject for a video like this
I'm a new English teacher in Japan and have been creating flashcards & worksheets for my students and saw this clipart in every classroom. I JUST found this website. It's so helpful for lessons!
Finally, this answers the question I've had since living in Japan. These clip art appear everywhere - from university club posters, on neighbourhood association signs, on national TV and news programs and social media mosts. Such a simple answer too haha
Im Japanese and I thought this is really intriguing topic.
Cause I am a Malaysian uni student, when I was preparing for presentation, every stickers other stundets use looked pretty different from what I had ever seen!!
I didn't know that there is such an interesting background! thank you
So basically Japan has consistent, high quality (and inclusive!) clip art is because one man decided he wanted to do this. What a legend.
Thank you Mifune Takashi-san!
英語の自動字幕でもirastoyaって聞き取ってくれるほどに普及しててすごい
irasutoya is my savior when making powerpoint presentations for school
I have used Irasutoya for a very long time, I just had to find the correct Japanese words for searching very very very specific term like "progress in work" gives image of "woman in work uniform climbing glass ladder of success beneath everyone else", etc. Since this video has come out, Irasutoya now has a あいまい検索 search in English! Thank you so much for this video, and I really want everyone else in the world to know about Irasutoya and support the artist!
omg i literally always wondered why all Japanese RUclipsrs I watch use these same style images :D perfect video!
ive been thinking about this a lot but never actually search for it... thank you for the knowledge
Mifune-san deserve to be a national artist
I first spotted this clip art when I started Japan Foundation Japanese course in 2017. Every course related material contained at least a couple of images. Never occurred to me there's only one person behind it all though!
It is a video I never knew I needed, it all makes sense now. Thank you!
That man literally made every possible thing that's in Japan into cliparts, even if it's some questional theme that's probably from someone's fever dream.
nooo bc i was literally DESPERATE to know why all japanese clipart is the same. thank u king
Wow I would think it's done by a team or a company, not a just a single person. Mifune-san is a champ.
Considering how many official posters, documents and media use his clipart I'd be surprised if he wasn't being subsidised by the government.
まさかのいらすとや特集だと…？！確かに、同じような絵柄がTV、チラシ、会議資料、論文発表で使われてるって、不思議なことだよね。
そして、いらすとや海外進出の大きな1歩が踏み出されたのか…。めでたい！
I really needed this video, thank you so much!!!
I can finally rest easy after this video! I recently finished my first semester of Japanese class and my native teacher used these images all the time. I was always so curious as to where they came from.
I’ve always been super curious about where Japanese people were finding these consistently cute pictures! I couldn’t find the source, so I assumed that (somehow) everyone in Japan had learned to draw in this specific way, and that there were hundreds of artists doing these images.
But now I’m astonished that not only have you pointed me to the site were I can find these in high resolution, but that they’re basically free and were all drawn by ONE PERSON?!!!?!
Bloody amazing! Thank you!
I have legitimately always wondered about this. I see this art style everywhere in Japan but couldn’t find the source. Thanks for this.
OMG I've seen this clip art adorn several notices at train stations, restaurants, and indeed even NHK. How did I not realize this?
Thanks for making this video and thanks Mifune Takashi-san!
I was just curious because I kept seeing vtubers use this art in thumbnails and videos etc. and now it makes sense lol. What a cool and hardworking guy for making this.
Sometimes it seems like 1 person can never make a difference in this world.
But then you have guys like this.
Well well well... your video has solved a small mystery! I may or may not have recently become addicted to the various "SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Japanese Illustration" RUclips channels. Not so much for the puzzle aspect but to my surprise also for the artwork; after a few months I feel as if the artwork is pretty much a master class in drawing. Of course that made me wonder who the artists were... thank you so much for helping solve part of this mystery!
I see this art style in Japan airport and everything else even the internet and have always been wondering who made them cuz it looks so good. This clears it up :)
How generous of him! I've always been curious. What a neat video! :)
I always noticed that the clipart in Japan looked really cute and uniform, and thought it was just a cultural style. But the fact it was just one man is mind blowing!!
This is a video I didn’t know I needed! Thank you for spotlighting this unsung hero!
This website has become so useful for my presentations at uni. My classmates LOVE them because they are so consistant, so I help them find the ones they need since I'm the only Japanese speaker.
I first noticed this clip art because the FFXIV devs would always use it to demonstrate certain points. I always wondered if they made it or hired someone to make it. Glad to know it’s source!
I'm a teacher in Korea and often use Irasutoya clip art! It's really an amazing resource, even if you don't speak Japanese it's pretty easy to use!
Mystery solved! These cliparts are everywhere and I've always wondered where they came from. Prettry impressed that one person did all this.
... I've never heard about this illustrator before now... but wow, the respect I feel for this man!
wow thank you for this video, as a graphic design student this is genuinely so inspiring and i kind of wish he did do interviews so i can hear more about his process. Thank you for the insight in this video. his clean and universal appeal (and business strategy) really inspire and motivate me as i learn more about what makes great design
I just recently learned Japanese in college and I was always curious where my sensei got all the art for her slides. I really enjoyed all of them so it’s cool to learn the origins of them
oh i was actually looking for this art! thank you for this video
So Mifune Takashi is the man behind it all...
Given the massive amount of art there is, I wouldn't have guessed it was al created by one single person
About 2 years ago I started seeing this clip art used in America. I just thought it was cute art they had pulled. It was in a heavily Asian area so they probably just brought it over with them from Japan and it eventually caught on with everyone else nearby. Crazy to find out it was just one guy. Would explain why the style is so consistent.
This video really REAALLy poignantly answers all my questions about these clip art thingys
Such a deep cultural cut - I love it.
What a generous and great artist! Irasutoya-san rocks!
This is the video I’ve always needed but never knew I did! I’ve been watching Japanese RUclipsrs for a while now and never knew where they got their clip art so this was a real eye opener. Thanks for sharing!
My Japanese teacher always used it for her lessons on her power points, so when I see it in videos I smile
I’ve been wondering about this for some time now! I see this artwork EVERYWHERE and it’s consistently cute and well done. Thanks for posting this video, mystery solved!
this is the most important japan video on youtube.
I like using them for presentations, they have everything
I love this video…. I was so happy… thank you Takashi san!!
yaaaass! I found out about irasutoya when I moved here and it's great, I've shared it with people several times :D
Thank you Takshi-san for the amazing clipart!
And thank you Greg for teaching us about it :)
I've always wondered where vtuber gets their clipart. And they never seen to run out either.
Until there's another set of clipart as good as this, I'm sticking to irasutoya. Now that i know what it's called.
I had actually realized that in V-tuber videos I would see the same cliparts popping up all the time, but I didn't think too much of it. Makes so much sense now
Damn, i admire the guy, so much clipart in the same style for years!
This is a really well done video you made !! It was so cool to see all of the different and many types of clip arts images you used in this video !! . Thanks to you I think I might as well check out his clip art you featured in this video !! . This was a really cool video you made and I enjoyed and liked it very much !! . Keep up the amazing hard work on your RUclips channel !!! And on your other RUclips channels !! . I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future !! . Oh just wondering but , will you do a video where you talk about the gear you use and how you make your videos . So that we can see a behind the scenes of how you make your RUclips videos ? ! . Thanks !! .
Thanks. I might do a gear update on the X channel sometime. But most people aren't interested, so I tend to focus on other topics.
@@LifeWhereImFrom Yeah you’re welcome anytime !! . Ah ok got it ! That’s understandable ! Well then I can’t wait to go see that gear update video when the time comes 📷 !! .
The person who makes the illustrations for wikihow has a worthy opponent
THANK YOU BECAUSE I WAS ACTUALLY CURIOUS ABOUT THIS BUT DIDNT KNOW HOW TO SEARCH FOR THE TOPIC
I have been curious about this for awhile. I’m glad someone’s made a good video about it
OMG THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR ANSWERING MY 5 YEARS LONG QUESTION !!!!
I have always wondered who made the illustration ! 🥲✨
Great video 😭
@@alexcarlo7110 hi alex , im a fan from Tokyo japan hahahah ! Nice to meet you too
YES FINALLY I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW WHERE THE JAPANESE CLIP ART CAME FROM
Sooooo many native English teachers in Korea use these too! It's usually our go to since we can find more "eastern" images and it's so varied. Thank you to Mifune Takashi and Irasutoya!
that was a very sweet video!
I have seen these seemingly everywhere and I must agree I love how they look; props to Takagi san!!
YES!! FINALLY FOUND IT!!! Saw these everywhere
This question has been in the back of my mind for like a year now but I never expected to find and answer for it.
Nice video !
Thank you for explaining this! I've been seeing Takashi-san's clip art around, but never knew where they came from. I may have to look into them, as I have a project that needs a few in-universe pieces of media filled in, and having a consistent, appealing style would help them blend in so much better.
I've been consuming a lot of Japanese media lately to aid my Japanese lessons and I think this will help me to further illustrate everything I've learned! Thank you for sharing this with us!
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 will be using this site too from now on. Thank you!
When I first heard about irasutoya, my mind was blown! I only lived one year in Japan, but still these clip arts were so familiar to me. I really felt your excitement in the video haha! 😄
Finally i found the answer,been wondering about this since i saw it everywhere in japan sns.thank you
This video was so fun to watch!! Thank you for showcasing Takashi-san's cliparts
Truly a hero for a lot of people
Well done, Greg. I was wondering how everyone in Japan uses the same style of Japanese clip art. Your video clearly explains everything. By the way! The Japanese Live concert culture also impress me. How energetic are the audiences and especially their uniformity when shaking their light sticks make me so very curious and perplexed: I keep wondering, how they can do that for the length of the entire concert. If you would like to watch a Japanese Live concert, maybe that could make an interesting topic for your future video. (…would you be so kind, pleeease? ^_^)
If I could get permission I would make a video. Record companies are so restrictive about copyright though, so I suspect that unless I had some good connections, I wouldn't be able to do. But would be interesting.
The glowstick dance thing is called wotage or otage if done by fans to cheer an idol at a live concert, and called CYALUME dance or CYALUME performance if done as a standalone performance.
CYALUME is a brand of glowstick, written as サイリウム (sairiumu) in Japanese and pronounced sai-liyeum or sai-li-oo-mu.
Wow! This is so curious, I really liked the video!
This is so interesting. I love this artist ! His website is also a great way to learn japanese vocabulary lol.