Kotoha Iwakuchi

Kotoha Iwakuchi (イワクチコトハ, b. Tokyo, Japan) is an illustrator based in Tokyo. Iwakuchi graduated in 2023 from the Department of Design in the Faculty of Arts at Tokyo Polytechnic University, studying illustration and painting under Hiroki Taniguchi, Takuto Endo and Fuko Ueda, and received the Dean's Award at the graduation exhibition before starting out as a freelance illustrator.

The work is made digitally and layers imagined elements over real landscapes so that a single, ordinary moment of daily life is held still. In December 2023 the calendar ennui, produced with DNP Communication Design as part of its programme for young illustrators, won the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award and the gold prize in its division at the 75th National Calendar Exhibition. This was followed by the Kawana Jun Award at HB WORK vol. 5 (2024) and selection for the 19th TIS Open Call (2024). Iwakuchi has since drawn jackets for Gentosha, Kodansha, KADOKAWA and Gakken, including Yuka Kobayashi's Mamono (2024), Yusuke Norishiro's Nijushi-go (2024) and Tomomi Hatano's Asylum (2025), as well as covers and frontispieces for the literary magazine Gunzo.

A first solo exhibition was held at 9DAYS GALLERY, Tokyo, in 2024, followed by solo shows in 2025 and 2026. Kotoha Iwakuchi's work is presented in Europe by Tokiol.

Selected exhibitions

2026 Atokata, solo exhibition, Furuhonya Ichijitsu, Tokyo
2025 Matataki, solo exhibition, Gallery House Maya, Tokyo
2025 HB WORK vol. 5 winners, group exhibition, HB Gallery, Tokyo
2025 Tsuzuku Tsunagu Market, Nihonbashi Takashimaya, Tokyo
2024 Iwakuchi Kotoha, solo exhibition, 9DAYS GALLERY, Tokyo