Hirofumi Takemoto is a Japanese artist who captures in his work the immense diversity and vibrancy of Japanese culture.
Takemoto creates images inspired by Kitagawa Utamaro’s large-headed pictures of female beauties. Utamaro was one of the most important designers of Ukiyo-e (a genre of Japanese art very popular from the 17th to the 19th century, which means “pictures of the floating world”.  Utamaro’s drawings of women were based in real prostitutes and socially oppressed women.  Based on that, Takemoto re-creates pictures of beautiful women using Western painting techniques.