Koichi studied in the design department of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts 1965–69. After two years at the advertising division of Shiseido, Japan’s leading cosmetics company, he started to work freelance and gradually became known as one of the foremost explorers of traditional Japanese aesthetics in modern design. He won first prize in the MoMA International Poster competition (1988), received the Mainichi Design Award (1991) and Japan’s Education Minister’s Prize for outstanding artist (1998). He has been recognized at international events, such as the International Biennial for Communications Design, Essen (1995, 1996 and 1999), Warsaw Poster Biennial (1996 and 1998), Golden Bee at Graphic Design Biennial, Moscow (1996, 1998 and 2000). His mysterious and graceful works are in the permanent collections of museums all over the world. He lectured at the AGI congress in Paris (2001) and has been a professor at Tama Art University in Tokyo since 1995.