was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

illustrator. He is best known for his music album

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper (tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. Artists for whom he illustrated covers include

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical ...

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million r ...

, Deep Purple,

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually con ...

, Maze, George Clinton, Kitaro,

Rose Royce Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B group. They are best known for several hit singles during the 1970s including " Car Wash", " I Wanna Get Next to You", " I'm Going Down", "Wishing on a Star", and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore". Career T ...

Caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber ...

, and

Pure Prairie League Pure Prairie League is an American country rock band whose origins go back to 1965 and Waverly, Ohio, with singer and guitarist Craig Fuller, drummer Tom McGrail, guitarist and drummer Jim Caughlan and steel guitarist John David Call. Fuller st ...

. He assisted in the designing of the 1970 Osaka Expo, and was selected as one of the most significant artists in 200 years of American Illustration. He received several awards, along with platinum and gold albums, in recognition of his work. Several books of his artwork have been published, and in 1981 examples of his work were launched into outer space and orbited via the Russian

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

space station. Other companies and organizations where his work was featured included: NHK Television, TBS Japan, '' National Geographic'', ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'', '' Hustler'', '' Penthouse'',

Shigeo Nagashima is a Japanese former professional baseball player and manager. Biography Nagashima played baseball at his local high school, and on the Rikkyo University baseball team from 1954–1957. He joined the Yomiuri Giants in 1958. His jersey number ( ...

and

Sadaharu Oh Sadaharu Oh (Japanese: , ''Ō Sadaharu''; born May 20, 1940), also known as Wang Chen-chih (), is a Japanese-born former baseball player and manager Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Ō Sadaharu"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 758. who ...

, among many others.

Selected album artwork

* ''

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 ...

'' -

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight gold or platinum-selling studio album ...

, 1976 * ''

All 'N All ''All 'n All'' is the eighth studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1977 by Columbia Records. The album reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. ...

'' -

, 1977 * ''

Out of the Blue Out of the Blue may refer to: Film and television Film * ''Out of the Blue'' (1931 film), a British musical by Gene Gerrard * ''Out of the Blue'' (1947 film), an American comedy directed by Leigh Jason *'' Out of the Blue: Live at Wembley'', a ...

'' -

, 1977 * ''Deliverance'' -

, 1977 (US edition) * ''Sunbear'', Sunbear,

Soul Train Records SOLAR (acronym for Sound of Los Angeles Records) was an American record label founded in 1977 by Dick Griffey, reconstituted out of Soul Train Records only two years after it was founded with ''Soul Train'' television show host and creator Don C ...

, 1977 * ''

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an interplanetary space probe that was launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), with a t ...

'' -

The Sylvers The Sylvers were an American R&B family vocal group from Watts, Los Angeles, California. The Sylvers were a popular act during the 1970s, recording the hit singles "Fool's Paradise", " Boogie Fever", and " Hot Line". Prior to becoming the Sylv ...

, 1977 * '' When We Rock, We Rock, and When We Roll, We Roll'' - Deep Purple, 1978 * '' The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1'' -

, 1978 * '' Pleasure Principle'' -

Parlet Parlet was a female spinoff group from P-Funk formed by veteran background vocalists Mallia Franklin, Jeanette Washington and Debbie Wright. Washington and Wright were the first female members in Parliament-Funkadelic Parliament-Funkadelic ...

, 1978 * ''Just Blue'' -

, 1978 * ''

I Am I Am or I'm may refer to: Language and literature * " I Am that I Am", a common English translation of the response God used in the Hebrew Bible when Moses asked for His name ** I am (biblical term), a Christian term used in the Bible * "I Am" ( ...

'' -

, 1979 * ''Dazz'' - Kinsman Dazz (early incarnation of the

Dazz Band The Dazz Band is an American R&B/funk band most popular in the early 1980s. Emerging from Cleveland, Ohio, the group's biggest hit songs include "Let It Whip" (1982), "Joystick" (1983), and "Let It All Blow" (1984). The name of the band is a p ...

), 1979 * ''Oasis'' - Kitaro, 1979 * '' Can't Hold Back'' -

, 1979 * '' Raise!'' -

, 1981

References

External links

shuseinagaoka.net

nealnagaoka.com
*
Entry
in ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo, Locus and British SF Awards. Two print editions appeared in 1979 and 1993. A third, contin ...

''
長岡秀星さん最古の作品発見　高校同級生・篠崎さんが寄贈　７日まで一支国博物館の追悼展で展示

ISFDB entry
1936 births 2015 deaths Album-cover and concert-poster artists Fantasy artists Japanese illustrators Japanese speculative fiction artists People from Nagasaki Science fiction artists {{japan-artist-stub