Kaoru is an illustrator from Japan, currently living in the UK. She especially loves drawing animal characters. Her projects often begin with a fascination with individuality and freedom in her subjects—whether found in a child’s posture or casual remark, or in the movements and characteristics of animals. She explores ways of illustrating these small moments through narrative.

She completed her master's degree in Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art in 2026 with a distinction.

She works with mixed media, including painting, collage, and printmaking, with texture playing an important role in her work. Outside of illustration, she enjoys dancing, baking, and going on bookshop crawls.