A JAPANESE ILLUSTRATOR BORN IN AKASHI, HYOGO PREFECTURE
After studying at (but not graduating from) the Art department of Tokyo University of the Arts, he began to work as an illustrator in 1962. In 1980, his image illustration of Star Wars which he posted to a science fiction magazine caught the eye of George Lucas. At Lucas's request, Ohrai illustrated the poster that was used internationally for Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back, which made him famous internationally. Ohrai's thousands of other pieces have been used for book covers, including Japanese novelizations of the Star Woars movies, as well as video games such as Metal Gear Solid, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Dynasty Warriors and more. On October 27, 2015, he passed away at the age of 79 from pneumonia.