[Self-Introduction] The Reason Behind My Name 'Yorimichi' as a Heart-Centered Writer with Developmental Disabilities

[Updated: July 9, 2026]

"Am I allowed to be here?"
There was a child who could not believe in her own existence. That was me.

I couldn't keep up with classes. The sounds in the classroom were painful. I always wondered, "Am I allowed to be here?" But the day I picked up a brush, the world began to change, little by little.

In 2023, I held my first art exhibition, with over 70 visitors. In 2024, I surpassed 10,000 followers on X, and received requests for corporate logos and YouTube animations. In 2025, I gave a lecture at an NPO and hosted an art exhibition in Osaka that drew 80 people. In 2026, I published my autobiography and a picture book as a commercial author, and gave lectures at employment transition support centers. I write this, weaving the trajectory of my "detours" into the name "Yorimichi" (a detour).

I am a commercial author, essayist, picture book author, and artist working under the name "Yorimichi."
However, there were many "detours" before I reached this point.

Art was my escape

As a child, I didn't talk much. At my 3-year-old checkup, I was told, "Your speech is delayed," and I could feel my mother worrying.
"The air feels different." I had that sensation. Even after entering elementary school, that sense of discomfort didn't disappear, and I couldn't keep up with the pace of the lessons. My notebooks were full of blank spaces. Every day, I was filled with anxiety and frustration, wondering, "Am I allowed to be here?"

Amidst all that, my teacher praised my poetry: "Your words are beautiful."
Those words gave oxygen to me when I was suffocating.

Me, a truant, the seaside, and an art teacher

In junior high school, just being in the classroom became painful.
The sound of people's voices, the ticking of the clock, the atmosphere of the classroom... I felt like nothing fit me. And so, I became unable to go to school.

At that time, my father introduced me to an art teacher.
The moment I faced a canvas in the studio for the first time, the smell of the paint, the feel of the brush... everything was new, and my heart was liberated.
"Maybe this is my own pace," I felt. The time I spent at my grandfather's house by the sea also slowly healed me.

My father's death, being a company employee, and the name "Yorimichi"

My father passed away in his 30s. He left behind the words, "I'm worried about you."

"I can't go on like this," I thought strongly. From there, I faced the problems I had been avoiding, went through welfare facilities, and became a company employee for the first time through employment for people with disabilities.

Every day after coming home, I was exhausted. But the tools I had almost forgotten were whispering, "Did you forget about me?"

It was art.

I started drawing again, the art I had almost given up on. Even if no one understood and I was called crazy.

And then, in 2023, I called myself "Yorimichi."
For me, who has only ever taken detours, the name "Yorimichi" was perfect.
It wasn't just a professional name; it was a banner to reclaim my true self.

Yorimichi brought the world to me

I held my first art exhibition in Kamakura. Despite only announcing it on X, over 70 people came to visit.

A visitor once said to me, tearing up in front of my painting.
"This painting feels just like my own feelings."
In that moment, I was convinced that my art had connected with someone's heart.

Eventually,

By the time I was in Koenji, my X followers exceeded 10,000.

After that, I received requests for corporate logos and even work for YouTube animations.
Opportunities to be told, "I want to ask Yorimichi-san," increased.
Now, I feel more like myself as "Yorimichi" than my real name.
In 2025, a lecture at the Tsubame-kai in Katsushika Ward has been decided.
The thought that a day would come when I could give a lecture in my own voice made my legs tremble and my eyes well up with tears.

Membership [Yorimichi's Map]

Starting January 2025.
This is a community where you can touch the hidden side of Yorimichi's thoughts.
We hold regular Zoom tea parties.

Art doesn't have to be good.

Maybe there's no point in drawing. But for me, it was a "passage" for survival. When I wandered into a dark place, it was an existence that guided me toward the light. It's okay if no one sees it. But I'd be happy if someone did. I want to keep drawing such pictures from now on.

Is there a "yorimichi" (detour) in your heart that saves you, too?

Yorimichi's Books

"The Reason Why Yorimichi, with a Developmental Disability, Still Lives."

"The Day Yorimichi Was Born"

Click here for how to navigate Yorimichi's note with a developmental disability

Email Newsletter [Yorimichi News]

You can start reading for free from here.
However, there are no back issues. Because I want to cherish our encounters.

Work Requests and Inquiries

Please feel free to contact me for writing, essays, columns, lectures, speaking engagements, illustration and picture book production, or my drawing notebook technique shop.

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