Born in 1983 in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, he is currently based in Hyogo Prefecture.
He graduated from the Japan Institute of Photography and Film.
In 2017, while working full-time, he attended photography school. Upon graduation, he began pursuing photography in earnest.
Using photography as his primary medium, he creates works exploring the themes of “life and death” and “the cycle of life.”
His earliest memory, which remains vivid, is the death of his maternal great-grandmother when he was two years old.
He recalls watching the smoke rise silently from the crematorium chimney and feeling that “people eventually become smoke and disappear.”
This formative experience sparked a lifelong quest to understand the questions: “What is life? What is death?”
This exploration has profoundly influenced the recurring themes in his work.
Together with his wife, Chika Usui, he creates collaborative works under the name ‘Chika ＆ Ichio Usui,’ exhibiting in Japan and internationally.
