Born in Osaka in 1965.
Believing that his life’s work is using flowers as a medium to touch people’s hearts, Masaru calls himself “Kajin” (The Flower Man).
He doesn’t refer to his works as “flower arrangements” or “flower designs” but rather uses the term “souka” (floral decorations).
Masaru has a never-ending stream of requests from the entertainment and sports industries, and from countries around the world.
He works as a floral designer.
Career:
2001: Floral decorator for the USSR Osaka Consulate (2001)
2002: Awarded the International Order of Saint Stanislaus Second Class
2004: Awarded the Golden Future Award by the Ukraine International Arts Council
2006: Presented floral decorations to Lady Hitachinomiya, honorary president of the Japan-Latin America Women’s Association, at an association luncheon
2007: Provided floral decorations for the Kingdom of Morocco’s National Day
2008: Supervised floral decorations for the G8 Hokkaido Lake Toya Summit
Provided floral decorations at Kamigamo Shrine (World Heritage Site) for Ichikawa Danjuro XII’s rendition of The Tale of Genji
2009: Had an audience with Pope Benedict the 16th in Vatican City *The first Japanese to do so
2013: Dedicated flower offerings to Ise Shrine’s transfer ceremony, which only happens once every 20 years
2015: Supervised a 24-hour project to create a giant piece of floral art for NTV’s “24 Hour Television 38”
2017: Supervised floral decorations for the cherry blossom event ”Japan Presentation in Paris” at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France
2018: Created floral decorations inspired by “Miraika” (Future Flower), a song from Sukima Switch’s new album “Shinkuukan Algorithm,” which released on March 14, 2018.
Books
Masaru Akai’s first book “Play with Flowers” (Asahi Press)
Television
NHK “Asaichi,” “Yudoki Network”
NTV “Deep Stories That Will Change Your Life in 1 Minute” “24 Hour Television,” “Genius! Shimura’s Zoo,” “Sukkiri”
TBS “Professor Hayashi’s Surprising Facts!” MBS “Saturday Plus”
CX “Our Era (Osamu Hayashi × So Takei × Masaru Akai)”, “Buffet”