At mitosaya, we work with one artist each year to design labels and packaging.
Following collaborations with Kusanagi Shinpei in 2019, Nigel Peake in 2020, Nishimoto Ryota in 2021, Jason Logan in 2022, Sam Gendel in 2023, and Aureliusz Kowalczyk in 2024, in 2025 we will be collaborating with Hirayama Masanao (HIMAA) .
HIMAA, also known as Masanao Hirayama, is an artist known for his wide-ranging expression.
His works, composed of simple lines and bold colors, lightly evoke the humor and incongruity that lurk in the everyday.
His work is not limited to drawings but also encompasses a wide range of subjects, including zines, objects, performances, restaurant direction, and photos on social media. He continues to record daily events and sensations in a unique way, not just through drawing, but through his own perspective.
After moving to Kagawa and raising her children, she began exploring visual expressions aimed at babies. Her works are simple and monochrome, designed to be accessible to beings with different cognitive abilities. I was impressed by how the results are universal expressions that can reach many people. 
Through his past stays at mitosaya and the many conversations we have had, we have built a relationship over time. Just as the raw materials go through many processes to become a colorless and transparent distilled spirit, the paintings drawn through his perspective resonate simply yet in complex ways with the distilled spirits of mitosaya. We hope to give form to such a relationship through this collaboration.
He is widely known for his simple line drawings, but in this collaboration with mitosaya, he will first attempt to express the contents of liquid in an abstract form using his multi-coloured drawings.
How will these drawings be developed into labels and packaging? We hope you will look forward to the new printing and design ventures we will undertake together with TAKAIYAMA .
▶ Masanao Hirayama (HIMAA)
Artist. Born in Kobe in 1976. Currently living in Kagawa Prefecture. Active in a variety of media including drawings, installations, publications and videos, he develops a unique visual language full of humor and paradox. With themes of simple and intuitive images reminiscent of children's drawings, minimal colors and the relationship between language and painting, he creates works that make the viewer aware of "fluctuations in meaning" and "lack."
From 2023 to 2024, she will be creating a series of works that reconsider the relationship between "life" and "creation" while following in the footsteps of the southern French painter Henri Matisse. Drawing on her own experience of having children, she has also produced mobile works that appeal to the visual sense of babies.
Each year, mitosaya collaborates with one artist to create the label and packaging design for our products.
Following our past collaborations with Shinpei Kusanagi (2019), Nigel Peake (2020), Ryota Nishimoto (2021), Jason Logan (2022), Sam Gendel (2023), and Aureliusz Kowalczyk (2024), we are pleased to announce our 2025 collaboration with artist Masanao Hirayama (HIMAA) .
Masanao Hirayama, widely known as HIMAA, is an artist renowned for his diverse practice, which includes drawing, graphic work, publishing, and more. His deceptively simple lines and bold color planes evoke a sense of humor and subtle drawn discomfort from daily life.
His work is not limited to drawings, but expands to zines, objects, performance, art direction for eateries, and photography shared through social media. Rather than merely “drawing,” he continuously documents the world through his unique lens, recording everyday experiences and sensations in surprising ways.
After relocating to Kagawa and a parent, he began exploring visual language aimed at babies, experimenting with minimal monochrome imagery that could be perceived by those with developing perception. The resulting works were unexpectedly universal, resonating with a broad audience — an experience that left a deep impression on us.
Through his past residencies at mitosaya and our many conversations, we have built a relationship over time. Just as raw ingredients go through many transformations before becoming a clear and nuanced distillate, we believe his artworks—filtered through his unique perspective—resonate deeply and subtly with our spirits.
HIMAA is widely known for his simple line drawings, but this time, our collaboration will begin with his colorful drawings, as we explore how abstract forms can express the essence of liquid.
We're also excited to work alongside TAKAIYAMA to experiment with new methods in printing and design. We look forward to sharing the evolution of this collaboration as it takes shape in labels and packaging.
▶ Masanao Hirayama (HIMAA)
Artist. Born in Kobe in 1976, currently based in Kagawa Prefecture. Working across media including drawing, installations, books, and video, he has developed a unique visual language full of humor and paradox.
From 2023 to 2024, he pursued a new series of works inspired by Henri Matisse and the connection between life and artistic practice. He also released mobile-style works designed to be visually stimulating for babies, inspired by his experience of becoming a parent.
