Born in Kanagawa, Kiyo studied oil painting and print making at Tama Art University in Tokyo. Her first children’s book Mizutama no Chihuahua (‘The polka-dot Chihuahua’ text by Areno Inoue) (Fukuinkan Shoten), and also as a writer, Okiniri (‘My Favorite’ illustrated by the author) (Child Honsha) both were published in 1997. Since then she’s enjoyed considerable success as a children’s book author and illustrator while continuing to produce and exhibit print works throughout Japan. For her illustrations she uses a technique of copper plate printing on Japanese paper. She has participated twice in the illustrators’ exhibition at the Bologna Book Fair (Italy) in 1995 and 1996, as well as the Biennial of Illustrations in Bratislava (Slovakia) in 2001, 2003 and 2011.
Her illustrations for the latest work “Kuroino”(“The Black Thing” Written and illustrated by the author, 2018) won an award “Purple Island” at the NAMI Concours in South Korea, 2019.