Gaku Nakagawa was born in 1966 and currently resides in Kyoto. A monk of the Jodo-shu Seizan branch Zenrin-ji, he became an illustrator in 1996, creating illustrations for various books and other publications. Internationally, he has featured in Monocle, a London-based publication that is distributed across twenty countries, and also for a special feature on world illustrators by renowned German art publishers TASCHEN. Notable works include cover and book illustrations for Manabu Makine’s Toppinparari no kazetarou (Tokyo: Bungeishunju, 2013) and Bessatsu bungeishunjuu (Bungei shunju extra) (Tokyo: Bungeishunju, 2014). He won recognition in the 2013 Design for Asia Award for Ezoushi ryuutandan (Ezoushi Ryutandan) (2013) and Ehon kechou (Kechou) (2013)