[Background] Born in Nishinoomote-shi, Kagoshima-ken in 1982, and raised in Ibusuki-shi.

Initially, I aimed to attend an art college, but in my third year of high school, when I asked my art teacher for drawing lessons, I took my advice seriously: “It’s too late to start studying drawing now. You’d be better suited to a lawyer.” I applied to the Faculty of Law and Letters at Kagoshima University, but failed.

I then attempted to obtain qualifications as a judicial scrivener and real estate agent on my own, but gave up after my obsessive-compulsive disorder, which had been present since high school, worsened and I was unable to continue reading reference books.

After spending a few years just hanging around, I became inspired by Mitsuo Nobuto, who originally created artwork for Pizzicato Five, and created pseudo-designs using Word on my computer. At the age of 26, while standing in front of my garage, I told my mother, “I want to be a designer,” and she agreed.

I then began designing in earnest using Adobe Creative Suite 6, which I purchased with the money I earned from appearing as a monitor on an NHK program.

In 2023, inspired by an email he received via a portfolio site I had launched shortly before, and despite still having not yet made my commercial debut, I applied to have my work featured in Japan Creators, a directory of graphic designers and illustrators, and donated copies of the book to various locations around Ibusuki-shi. As a result, I was approached by a local printing company to fill in for their in-house designer, who was busy preparing for the then-imminent “Burning Emotions Kagoshima National Athletic Meet and Kagoshima Games.” He then made my commercial debut at the age of 41, designing promotional manga and characters for a local company.

The following year, I signed a freelance contract with a Korean company developing online design tools in Japan to design templates for flyers, Instagram ads, and YouTube thumbnails, which prompted me to file his business registration. I chose “MIKADana,” combining the “dana” (store) character from “oodana” (large store) with my own name.

I currently works as a freelance graphic designer and web designer, taking on one-off requests.

Qualifications: Color Coordinator (Standard Class), EIKEN Level 2

Motto: My maternal grandmother’s favorite saying: “Work quickly and neatly.”