Noriyoshi Ōrai

was a Japanese illustrator. He is most notable for illustrating the international poster for The Empire Strikes Back and several Godzilla film posters during the Heisei era.

Ohrai's prolific work includes the illustration of over 1,300 book and magazine covers, video game box art, movie posters and portraits.

Career Ohrai started his career as an illustrator after dropping out of a painting course at Tokyo University of the Arts in 1957. He first began to exhibit his paintings in Ginza in 1960 however he was unable to sell a single piece of artwork. In 1962, Ohrai joined a startup advertising company called the Tokyu Agency. This caught the eye of the film's creator George Lucas. At Lucas' request, Ohrai illustrated the international poster for The Empire Strikes Back, which was primarily featured for advertising the film in Japan and Australia. The poster was recognized globally and caused Ohrai to earn the Seiun Award at the Japanese Sci-Fi Convention in 1980.

After his retirement in 2011, highlights of Ohrai's work were published in three collection books across 2014 and 2015, and exhibitions were displayed in his hometown of Miyazaki. In 2013, Ohrai was awarded the Miyazaki Prefecture Culture Prize for his contribution to art in Japan. In 2011, Ohrai had a stroke which prevented him from illustrating and forced him into retirement.

On October 27, 2015, Ohrai died at the age of 79 from pneumonia. His son, Taro Ohrai, is an artist in Japan. Selected works Illustrations for films

Illustrations for games

Art collection books Illustrations by Noriyoshi Ohrai (1980, Tokuma Shoten) Future War 198X Illustrations Collection by Noriyoshi Ohrai (1982, Kodansha) Illustrations 2: The World of Demons by Noriyoshi Ohrai (1983, Tokuma Shoten) The Beauties in Myths by Noriyoshi Ohrai (1988, Tokuma Shoten) Noriyoshi Ohrai: The Illustrator (2014, Miyazaki Bunka Honpo) The Green Universe by Noriyoshi Ohrai (2014, Gentosha) Noriyoshi Ohrai II: Corridor of Memories 1966-1984 (2015, Miyazaki Bunka Honpo)