Check out the mid-century stylings of Japanese illustrator Satoshi Hashimoto

Looking at Satoshi Hashimoto’s illustration you’d be forgiven for thinking he was a mid-century Parisian or Californian artist. His loose brush strokes and reductive style recall the posters of 1950s France or a paired back Hanna-Barbera with a modern twist. In fact Satoshi was born, raised and trained in eastern Japan, attending Tokyo’s prestigious Kuwasawa Design School.

Despite his origins Satoshi’s imagery always maintains a distinctly western flavour, featuring louche gangs of artists and musicians parading cobbled streets, hanging out in their studios or musing at desks. So continental is his style in fact, that he regularly illustrates European cities for Monocle, a tradition that we hope continues for as long as possible.