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Irasutoya

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Irasutoya
Irasutoya homepage
Available inJapanese
Founded2012
Headquarters
Tokyo
,
Japan
Founder(s)Takashi Mifune
ProductsClip art
URLirasutoya.com
IPv6 supportNone
CommercialNo
RegistrationNone
Launched31 January 2012; 12 years ago (2012-01-31)
Current statusOnline
Content license
Custom

Irasutoya (Japanese: いらすとや, derived from Japanese: イラスト, romanized: irasuto, lit. 'illustration' and Japanese: 屋, romanized: -ya, lit. 'shop') is a website operated by illustrator Takashi Mifune that offers gratis clip art illustrations. These works can be used for both commercial and non-commercial applications, but copyright is not waived, there are moral rights-related restrictions on how they should be used, and restrictions to use amount per commercial project.[a]

Overview

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The site has a diverse range of free-to-use clip art illustrations and has gained a reputation as a site where illustrations of any topic can be found.[2][3][4] The site's mascot is a black rabbit named Pyoko (IPA: [pʲoko̞]).

Before Irasutoya, there were other sites offering free clip art, but varying art styles resulted in inconsistency if illustrations from multiple sources were used. The combination of Mifune's unified art style and large range of illustrations has contributed to Irasutoya's popularity and prevalence.[5] Irasutoya has been criticized for threatening the careers of other illustrators due to its large volume of freely available materials,[6] but others have noted a significant decline in illustration clients making unreasonable requests as a result.[7]

A Twitter trend to recreate the cover art of albums, video games, manga, and light novels using illustrations from Irasutoya occurred in 2016.[8][9] A mobile game[10] and a recreation of a game opening sequence[11] were also made using Irasutoya clip art.

The site was updated almost daily after the release of Setsubun illustrations on 31 January 2012, but as Mifune became too busy to maintain the pace of updates, he temporarily stopped updating the site on 31 January 2021. Since then, updates have been irregular, with a few illustrations uploaded per month.[2][12]

Subject matter

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A sign at a park featuring Irasutoya illustrations

In addition to typical clip art topics, unusual occupations such as nosmiologists, airport bird patrollers, and foresters are depicted, as are special machines like miso soup dispensers, centrifuges, transmission electron microscopes, obscure musical instruments (didgeridoo, zampoña, cor anglais), dinosaurs and other ancient creatures such as Hallucigenia and Pikaia, and subjects from fantasy and games (Hero, Mi-Go, Buer), many of which are rare in the free culture world.

There are illustrations of people of various ethnicities and cultures in situations such as attending international school and eating Japanese food. Said ethnicities and cultures include the Selk'nam people, the La Sape subculture, the Gaoshan people, and Muslim brides and grooms in traditional wedding costumes.

Other topics include Japan Self-Defense Forces personnel, politics, covert photography via hidden cameras and smartphones, gaming mice, education, wisdom teeth, chūnibyō teenagers, depictions of bipedal and quadrupedal chupacabras, and the Antikythera mechanism.

Current events

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Initially, Mifune's illustrations were mainly of a broad, general nature, but gradually, illustrations of current events (sometimes of a satirical nature) began to be published. The contrast between his cutesy drawing style, the consistency of the illustrations and such themes is considered a point of interest.[13] Illustrations on other themes (refugee crises, fake news, conspiracies) and current events (3D-printed firearms, same-sex marriage, virtual reality, fidget spinners) have been added from time to time. Around February 2016, when gacha games became problematic, an illustration of a person using a giant gashapon machine was uploaded.[13][14]

The short interval between events occurring and illustrations portraying them attracted attention in early 2016,[15] and again in March 2019, when Mifune published an illustration based on a Japanese Internet meme of a pufferfish vomiting water. His announcement of the illustration on Twitter attracted 15,000 retweets.[16][17][18]

In March 2016, Mifune announced the temporary cessation of current affairs illustrations, with the sentiment that if he continued, Irasutoya would become less like a hobby and more like a job. Around two months later, an illustration parodying two-year mobile phone contracts was released.[19]

Collaborations

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a poster is hung in a store
Irasutoya illustrations attached to a sign in a store

Irasutoya-embroidered handkerchiefs were sold at Nakamise-dōri in Asakusa from 25 December 2017 with five different illustrations (boy, girl, boy and Kaminarimon, girl and Kaminarimon, and animals).[20]

A 2018 collaboration café with Kamakura Coffee appeared for a limited time from 23 January to 1 April.[21] That same year, in collaboration with I'm Standing on a Million Lives, serialised in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, a special "Wakeari Free Edition" in which all panels from the latest five volumes were replaced with Irasutoya material was published for free on Kodansha's "Magamega" website and in Weekly Shōnen Magazine.[22] Alongside the first episode of I'm Standing on a Million Lives's first anime season, the "Wakeari Version" was broadcast in October 2020.[23]

To celebrate the 1000th episode of the One Piece manga, 20 illustrations of characters from the work—the first Irasutoya illustrations of copyrighted characters—were released on 4 January 2021. Permission was granted by Shueisha for use within the pre-existing terms, as long as the use does not damage the image of the work.[24]

In November 2021, Irasutoya collaborated with Made in Abyss on a series of online lottery merchandise.[25][26] In January 2022, the chocolate "Irasutoya Box" was sold in collaboration with Japanese confectioner Tirol-Choco.[27][28] In March that year, Irasutoya collaborated with Sesame Street on a large stuffed toy featuring Cookie Monster and Elmo,[29] and announced the release of Line stamps in collaboration with Idolish7 the following month.[30]

Awards

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  • 2019 - Society for Digital Archiving '1st Society Award' Practice Prize (2018)[31]
  • 2022 - Digital Media Association 'Digital Content of the Year '21 / 27th AMD Awards' Excellence Award (FY 2021)[32][33]

Notes

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  1. ^ For commercial use, up to 20 items per creation may be used free of charge. If the number of items exceeds this limit, a fee of approximately ¥1,000 (excluding tax) per item will be charged for each item (including the first 20). There is no limit on the number of items used for personal or non-commercial use, as well as use by businesses small enough to not require tax returns.[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Frequently asked questions". Irasutoya. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b Yuka Okada (25 January 2021). ""Irastoya" 10 years on, updated daily. Too busy to end, "Sorry if I worry you"". ITmedia NEWS. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Somehow, Japan has become full of "Irasutoyas"". J Town Net. J-Cast. 24 September 2016. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Sequel: Japan is full of "Irasutoyas" [TV, warning, POP]". J Town Net. 18 October 2016. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  5. ^ "「いらすとや」がどれだけ画期的なのか現役のデザイナーの立場で説明します". OMGmag (in Japanese). 28 September 2016.
  6. ^ kami (24 August 2019). "Irasutoya, taking away the work of illustrators and putting many out of business! Screams of too much cosmetic work". Seconds SUNDAY. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  7. ^ "最初は仕事を奪う存在として、同業界隈で警戒されていた「いらすとや」 だが…実情を述べたツイートに称賛の嵐 | ツイナビ". twinavi.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  8. ^ Kutsuzawa, Shinji (9 March 2016). "「いらすとや」の素材が今度はゲームのパッケージに！ 「いらすとやさんでゲームパッケージを再現する」に力作集まる". Netorabo (in Japanese). Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  9. ^ Kutsuzawa, Shinji (9 March 2016). "フリー素材を組み合わせてCDジャケットを再現する猛者たちが「いらすとやさんの素材で名盤を再現してみる」に集結". Netorabo (in Japanese). Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  10. ^ Kutsuzawa, Shinji (29 March 2016). "「いらすとや」の世界から脱出せよ！ 人気サイトのフリー素材が今度はゲームに". Netorabo (in Japanese). Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  11. ^ Kishomatsu, Mach (24 May 2016). "「いらすとや」の素材で再現した「いただきじゃんがりあんR」OP映像 再現度も素材のニッチさもヤバい". Netorabo (in Japanese). Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Future updates to the site". Irasutoya. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  13. ^ a b Kyoko Umemoto (11 March 2016). "人気の「いらすとや」さん、なぜ時事ネタを？ 休止宣言、その理由". Withnews (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  14. ^ "なかなか当たらないガチャのイラスト". Irasutoya. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  15. ^ "Future writers". Irasutoya. 9 March 2016. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  16. ^ "【話題】いらすとや、今度は「水を吐くフグ」をイラスト化！ 何用だよ!! → 1万5000リツイート". Rocket News 24 (in Japanese). 14 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  17. ^ "Picture of a pufferfish vomiting water is the Japanese Internet's newest darling". SoraNews24 -Japan News-. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  18. ^ Miyahara, Rei. "「水を吐くフグ」の写真が拡散 → いらすとやがイラスト公開、Twitterでも一大ブームに発展". Netorabo (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  19. ^ "This is an illustration of the so-called "two-year bond" - "Irassuya" current affairs again at its best". Internet.com. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  20. ^ "Handkerchiefs for sale in Asakusa Nakamise". Irasutoya. 25 December 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  21. ^ "移動式のコラボカフェについて". Irasutoya (in Japanese). 19 January 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  22. ^ "100万の命の上に俺は立っている：「いらすとや」とまさかのコラボ ワケあり無料版を公開". MANTANWEB (in Japanese). Mainichi Shimbun. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  23. ^ "秋アニメ『100万の命の上に俺は立っている』第1話本編を"かわいいフリー素材集"でおなじみの「いらすとや」で制作した【ワケあり版】がYouTubeで公開！". Animate Times (in Japanese). Animate Lab. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  24. ^ "Celebrate 1000th episode! Irassuya x ONE PIECE collaboration illustration appears". Gadget Communications. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  25. ^ "メイドインアビスとコラボさせてもらいました". Twitter. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  26. ^ "メイドインアビス×いらすとや オンラインくじ". Kujibikido. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  27. ^ "チロルチョコ「いらすとやBOX」ファミマ限定発売、LINEスタンプ"ぴえん"など動物デザイン、マリトッツォ味・クレームブリュレ味など/ファミリーマート". 食品産業新聞社ニュースWEB (in Japanese). 23 January 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  28. ^ "チロルチョコ"いらすとやBOX"が本日（1/25）より全国のファミマで発売。パッケージにはイラストレーターのみふねたかし描き下ろしイラストを使用". Famitsu (in Japanese). 25 January 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  29. ^ "『セサミストリート』×「いらすとや」コラボのBIGぬいぐるみがシュールで可愛い！マッチョな猫に抱えられたエルモ＆クッキーモンスターに癒やされるアイテムです！". Dengeki Hobby Web (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  30. ^ "『アイナナ』×"いらすとや"コラボ決定！ グッズやLINEスタンプに！". Dengeki Online (in Japanese). 27 April 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  31. ^ "デジタルアーカイブ学会第1回学会賞受賞者発表". デジタルアーカイブ学会誌. 3. 2019. doi:10.24506/jsda.3.2_71.
  32. ^ Yoshiaki Kataoka (15 March 2022). "Grand Prize goes to TBS's Friday drama "Saiai", the 2021 'AMD Awards'". INTERNET WATCH. Viewed 10 June 2022 (UTC).
  33. ^ "27th AMD Award '21" award ceremony Report The AMD Award Grand Prize went to "Saai" starring Yuriko Yoshitaka. Also selected were "Irassutoya" and "Uma Musume" (3/6)". ASCII.jp x Digital. Kadokawa ASCII Research Institute. (23 Mar 2022) viewed 10 Jun 2022 (UTC)
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