We're thrilled to be working with Japanese creative Momoe Narazaki. We recently caught up with her to ask about life in rural Japan, what inspires her work, and how she created her first range of greeting cards and wrapping paper for our AfriquePost Kids collection.
You're based in rural Japan. What's life like there?
How do you balance farm life with your creative practice?
My partner Will is mostly in charge of the farming and I do graphic design and illustration work. When I have time, I help with harvesting and packing vegetables but it’s really not that much. I also make the labels, flyers and all the branding stuff for the farm. It’s kind of nice that illustration became part of the farm and is actually quite helpful for the marketing.
Figuring out the balance of work, money and time is very difficult and it’s something we are still struggling with every year. Making a living through vegetable farming is almost impossible in Japan, especially when it’s an organic farm like ours.
For now, we are making enough to keep our small family happy and don’t have any plans to quit. We want to keep trying because we believe in the value of farming for our future. Planting seeds and caring for our little bit of land feels like the least we can do in the face of so much climate catastrophe.
"I think illustration can be a powerful tool for story telling and I hope my own drawings can become small seeds of inspiration for someone, somewhere to also act for a better future." |
What are the main influences and inspirations to your drawing work?
It’s kind of an obvious answer, but of course the kids are a never-ending chunk of inspiration for me. Besides that really any small encounters and realisations in everyday life, be it positive or negative. My personal emotions are often reflected in my illustrations and the boundary relationship between humans and nature also comes up a lot. I think that’s why human-like-animal characters became one of my favourite things to draw.
The last two years I’ve also been making lots of illustrations for the Palestine solidarity movement. I try to help out in any way I can through my drawings to assist the activists in Japan. I also published a comic called 'My Eyes on Palestine' just before giving birth to our second baby in 2024, and we've been continuously helping to fundraise for farmers and mutual aid groups in Gaza.
I think it’s impossible and probably irresponsible to avoid getting influenced by politics and what’s happening in the world nowadays. I think illustration can be a powerful tool for story telling, and I hope my own drawings can become small seeds of inspiration for someone, somewhere to also act for a better future.
Do you mainly draw by hand, or do you work digitally?
I do both. I use the most simple tools and materials around me: pen, paper, scanner and computer. The most important thing is to grab the moment of inspiration and the simplest tools end up being the most effective for me.
I usually draw in three ‘styles’: hand-drawing, Illustrator drawing, or an Illustrator + hand-drawing thing which just means I sketch on Illustrator first, print it out, and trace it by hand. I also use Photoshop for colouring.
We read that you also work with your partner Will and make zines together. Do you still do that?
Yes we love making zines and miss being able to travel and meet people through zine swaps and book fairs. Our zines are just about the things we’re interested in which can be pretty broad… We try to keep an archive of most of our printed zines on our website (for anyone interested).
We're so proud of this new project together! How did you approach your designs for AfriquePost , and what you enjoyed about working on them?
Thank you so much! I was so honoured to collaborate with you, it’s truly been a really fun project for myself. I simply tried to imagine what our kids would enjoy looking at when I was thinking of the designs. I also liked thinking of the drawings almost as if I was making a big picture book where lots of semi-connected characters are having fun, dancing and celebrating each other. I enjoyed everything but the die-cut cards were something new and exciting especially. Like a pop-up picture book, I wanted to create a small world that you would want to keep on your desk!
Do you have a favourite card design?
One of my favourite designs is the one where everyone is hugging. I thought of this design when I saw our four year old one hugging the little baby who was hugging our cat. Then I hugged all of them. So naturally from there I just imagined the endless hug!
And what's next – any fun plans for the future?
I would love to make a real children’s picture book. More comics. Animation!
