Inside the Life of a Japanese Artist in Sydney, Australia

Never Too Small

Sign up for Milanote for free with no time limit: https://milanote.com/nts8   See inside illustrator and artist Kentaro Yoshida's beachside Sydney apartment and his life outside it in the Northern Beaches. A place he's called home since leaving Japan for Australia at 18 without really being able to speak English. From his home, to early morning surfs and long-standing surf shops, to cafes that take him back to Japan, and the pubs and galleries that he loves most about Sydney. Discover how surfing became a common language, his art helped him navigate cultural and language barriers, and how he built 20 years of friendships that have made Sydney feel like home. Inspired by both his youth in Japan and the culture of his adopted city, Kentaro's work reflects a life shaped by the places around him and the experiences that have made Sydney his home. My City, My Backyard explores the places people return to, and the stories that make a city their own.  Places we visited this episode: The Corso Hotel Steyne https://www.instagram.com/hotelsteyne/ Aloha Manly Style https://www.instagram.com/alohamanlystyle/  Cafe MONAKA https://www.instagram.com/cafe.monaka/  Chaco Bar https://www.instagram.com/chaco_bar/ Art Gallery of NSW https://www.instagram.com/artgalleryofnsw/ 4 Pines Truck Bar https://www.instagram.com/4pinestruckbar/  North Narrabeen Beach  Featuring: Kentaro Yoshida Creative Director: Colin Chee Executive Producer: James McPherson Executive Producer : Nelson Khoury Series Producer: Luke Clark Head of Production: Lindsay Barnard Producer: Jordan Barrett Director: Rhys Graham Director of Photography: Sam Kostevc Fixer / B Cam: Michael Herman Editor: Jess Ruasol Colourist: Jess Ruasol Archive Material: Kentaro Yoshida and Art Gallery of New South Wales Music: Artlist.io Only Love by RG404   Shoobie Doobie by Jimit Coffee Stop by Aves Hold A+B  by friedee Vegas by Skipp Whitman Interlude by Skygaze Turn It Up by Aves King of Cups by Jim Swim Shortcake by Just for Kicks Space by KOLA Blue Butter by Lalinea Streets by Curtis Cole New Day by Aves Crop Circles by Francesco D'Andrea Animals by Ardie Son One for D by Aves Letters to Myself Stay Here by ATELLER Coves by Lake Union Strata by Lake Union Penance by warmkeys  Principal production funding from @ScreenAustralia in association with VicScreen. Financed with the assistance of Scout Production Finance. With support from @T2tea  © 2026 Never Too Small Pty Ltd

Transcript

00:02My daily life is pretty simple.

00:05It could be, you know, wake up, have a quick surf,

00:09get back home with a coffee, and then, you know,

00:11just like drawing in this tiny workspace for the whole day, till my family comes back.

00:18This is a print.

00:20Kawaii. Kawaii.

00:23In this apartment, I wanted to keep the dance is pretty simple for family.

00:30Because, you know, upstairs, it's so messy. It's so busy.

00:33It's like so me.

00:35My name is Kentaro Yoshida.

00:37I'm an illustrator and artist, currently based in Sydney, originally from Japan.

00:47So this is my apartment.

00:50This is like a skateboard I made with the clients a while ago.

00:55It's only for door stopper for now.

00:59I display some of my friends artwork as well.

01:02I love the sketch detail.

01:05This is my actually favorite work from Russia.

01:08Because after I make this work, I felt like an art.

01:11My drawing skill was actually better.

01:15This is a kitchen.

01:17Because it's a small space, you know, we bought this little thing.

01:20Kids eat over there.

01:22Me and my wife.

01:24We eat food and we drink here.

01:26Or like sometimes, you know, I can host like a bartender.

01:32This one, it's family portrait.

01:35I mimic the first volume of the Dragon Ball.

01:38Me as a dragon drinking Asahi.

01:41Goku as my daughter.

01:43And then I added my wife here.

01:45And she loves drinking wine.

01:47So, you know, having wine here.

01:52I have been living in Sydney in the northern beaches.

01:56I wanted to stay around, you know, where I normally surf.

02:01There's so many beaches from Manly to Palm Beach.

02:05Each little beach has, you know, a little bit different atmosphere.

02:15I came to Sydney when I was 18.

02:18Now I'm 40.

02:20I still feel barely Japanese.

02:23But I also think the northern beaches in Sydney made a big part of who I am.

02:28I like the pubs.

02:29The people.

02:31And having so many different cultures around me.

02:35The ocean never feels too far away.

02:44While I was away for work in Tasmania,

02:47my wife and my kids found that place.

02:53We found two bedrooms with 80 square metres in Narabin.

03:01It's big enough for now.

03:03It's good for four people.

03:06Three girls.

03:06And just me as a boy.

03:10The girls are pretty much chilling and, you know, watching TV or doing whatever they want.

03:14Do you like living here?

03:17Enough space to play?

03:18Yeah.

03:20I just wanted to have, like, unique workspace.

03:24I just like the high ceiling and, you know, open space.

03:27When kids come back, I hear what they're talking about.

03:30It could be really enjoyable.

03:33I just like to be busy because I like correcting small things.

03:38Maybe since childhood.

03:40My little space when I was a kid was like a bunch of toys and a bunch of stickers and

03:43stuff like that.

03:44So I think I'm following the same rule.

03:48I like mustard colour.

03:50I'm obsessed with that.

03:51Mustard chair.

03:52Mustard.

03:53Where do you think the mustard obsession came from?

03:56Oh, from the first art show I did.

03:59I think it should be in here.

04:01I basically picked up the mustard colour.

04:05Oh, there you go. Here you go.

04:06Yeah.

04:07That was art show.

04:08And it was called Solo.

04:09About my solowness when I came to Australia.

04:13And this was like the first share apartment I lived.

04:17I felt alone.

04:18Even this one was like when I had heartbreak from, like, Canadian girls.

04:24In Japan, you know, we had a bunch of, like, weekly comic magazines.

04:28Everyone just, like, trace or, you know, draw the characters.

04:31That's how I generally, you know, stuck into the drawing.

04:36My work is fully based on the Japanese comic style.

04:40So it's like a bold line work and then plenty of colour.

04:44But all those, like, executions or ideas coming from my, like, lifestyle in Sydney.

04:55I grew up in a small fishing town in Toyama, Japan.

04:59The sea was always around me.

05:01But I never really thought the ocean was special.

05:05The sea was grey.

05:06The sand was grey.

05:07The sky was grey.

05:09That was just normal for me.

05:11So when I was 18, I didn't really know what I wanted to do.

05:15My mum, she's a glass artist.

05:17And I think she always wanted to speak English.

05:20She said she can send me to Sydney to, you know, learn English,

05:24you know, maybe see the different world.

05:26And I'm still here, so.

05:29I just put a few of my favourite servo here.

05:32This one I served, and it's my favourite.

05:36Like, recent favourite.

05:37When I was 18, just before turned 19, I only had, like, you know, 300 bucks.

05:43And then I wanted to do something without money.

05:46And I bought, like, wetsuits and surfboards within that budget.

05:53I used to live around here.

05:55There used to be a sushi train inside.

05:57And that's where I met my wife, Akko.

05:59We used to work together.

06:01How long did you work with Akko before you guys went out?

06:04Only a few weeks.

06:08This is a stain.

06:10So this is the first pub I went to when I first came to Australia.

06:13I got kicked out so many times when I was 18.

06:17It's good memories.

06:21Is it Benchkin?

06:22No.

06:28Morning, guys.

06:29Morning, Jess.

06:30Good to see you, mate.

06:31Thanks for having us.

06:32I think surfing definitely helped me connect with the people,

06:35friends, clients, guys from Australia or guys from Japan.

06:39Because surfing could be, like, really simple, common language as well.

06:44Aloha Surf, mainly, is my home for surfing.

06:49My best mate, he recently just left Aloha and went back to Japan for his new chapter.

06:55But he was there for, like, the last 20 years, 25 years, and he always looked after me.

07:00This is a wall I painted for the first time outside Aloha Surf.

07:06It's special for me.

07:08Tom Schwager and Georgia Hill.

07:10Three of us, we work together.

07:15You know, of all the surf shops left in Manly, it's the longest standing and it's also the most, like,

07:19core surf shop of the lot.

07:22Everyone that's worked here has kind of surfed since they were in diapers.

07:26Manly's a little bit different to, you know, some of the other beaches and the northern beaches where they might,

07:30like, kind of hide in their bubbles and, you know, stick with the same friendship group.

07:33Whereas, Manly, it can be a lot more transient.

07:37It's been more of a tourism hotspot.

07:39So, with that, like, we get all walks of life and you kind of need to be pretty friendly living

07:43at Manly because you're going to meet a lot of new people.

07:47Maybe surfing taught me to be patient.

07:51I used to be angry or stressful when I couldn't get the wave and taken by the other guy.

07:56But my older friend told me that, you know, that could be your chance to get the next one because

08:03eventually you get your turn.

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08:26with Kentaro Yoshida.

08:28To keep everything in one place, we used Milanote.

08:30A free visual workspace where our producer, director, cameraman and Kentaro could all collaborate on the same board.

08:39Milanote allowed us to bring all our notes, links, reference images and videos together.

08:45And organise them in a way that made sense for this project.

08:49We even embedded a walkthrough of Kentaro's home, so the whole team could explore the space without leaving the board.

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09:15I used to study visual communication in Sydney.

09:23Whenever I had a language barrier or cultural barrier, I'd just scribble or like I doddle something.

09:30Visual communication definitely helped me, surviving in this country.

09:33My English is still poor, so.

09:37Normally after surf, I go out like a lunch or you know, say I have friends at Monaca or like

09:43other cafe.

09:44I know the owner of the cafe for so long.

09:49He's like a good friend even though he's older than me.

09:52I met Kenny 15 years ago, 10 years ago.

09:56Yeah, we love surfing together.

10:00Here in Northern Beaches, there's lots of Japanese restaurants but mostly takeaway sushi.

10:06I want everyone to know more traditional Japanese that we normally eat in Japan.

10:14We're serving Japanese breakfast called Ichiju Sansai.

10:18Like one soup and different condiments and protein like fish and meat.

10:24I'm actually from the Shizuoka prefecture, which is a very famous tea place.

10:31So that's why I brought the Japanese center tea to Australia.

10:37I think we're part of the Japanese community in Northern Beaches.

10:41If you live in the same spot for long, you know, you eventually meet or you eventually connect.

10:48It's not the big community, but everyone knows kind of everyone.

10:51It's a little village.

11:02We have a long table there.

11:04Because of the space, you know, if we actually gather, you know, maybe six people, we still can dine here.

11:11During the summer, we do take out the camp furniture and get a barbecue there.

11:16I love MMA, watching MMA like UFC or Japanese MMA as well.

11:22So all my, like, you know, young boys or, you know, Japanese friends who love watching the Japanese MMA,

11:26come here, we project the MMA there.

11:29And then we pretty much, like, watch it and drink beers and do the yakitori there.

11:33Watching, like, this and, you know, we project it.

11:44What's up, guys?

11:45What's up?

11:46What's up!

11:46What's up?

11:47What's up!

11:47What's up?

11:48Survival in overseas is for sure pretty hard.

11:51Oh right, nice guy.

11:52Oh, he's sore.

11:53I don't want to go back to do the whole process again.

11:56But I think this experience really made me tough mentally, physically.

12:02It's such a small world in the Sydney Japanese community.

12:06So if you know that one person probably knows

12:09one and half of the Japanese, you know?

12:12Yeah.

12:12But he's a super famous young handsome boy.

12:23So I was interested in overseas.

12:26I met something really beautiful country here and peoples

12:30and decided to start living here.

12:33My wife and me at the same prefecture where I'm from.

12:37It's called Fukuoka, which is a sort of maker of the food in Japan.

12:43The most famous cuisine in Fukuoka was yakitori.

12:49Yakitori in Tokyo, people's understanding that yaki is a grill.

12:53Tori is a chicken.

12:54But in Fukuoka, pork belly skewer is the most popular thing in Fukuoka yakitori.

13:00Some people say it's like Japanese classic nostalgic atmosphere.

13:06There are slags hanging on the roof.

13:08My mom, 82 years old at the time, she stitched one by one.

13:13I want to bring the heart and the salt from my family into my restaurant.

13:18That creates that slightly different to the other restaurant maybe.

13:23As you can see, my luck is at work and I want to support him.

13:28Three years ago, we opened Chakurama in Bombay Beach.

13:31I asked him to paint it on the wall.

13:34All my staff and my friends in a big dining table.

13:38The Sydney Japanese community, people are really nice, right?

13:41Yeah, yeah, yeah.

13:42Our friends, because everyone does different things.

13:44I do make illustrations.

13:45He, like, run the beautiful restaurants.

13:47Other guy maybe run the beautiful coffee shop.

13:50So everyone's really independent in a way.

13:53We don't really focus on working with the Japanese, do you know what I mean?

13:56We are, like, integrated to this country somehow and still doing your own things, which I respect.

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14:28When I was maybe younger, I was a bit embarrassed to show my drawing or, like, illustrations to the people.

14:36It's like showing my inner ego or, like, almost like showing my butt or something, you know?

14:41When I started using Instagram as a proper sort of portfolio, that was maybe back in 2015,

14:49I had some live drama.

14:51I, you know, almost, like, forced to spend time myself a bit.

14:55I started posting personal work.

14:58Let's say on a Friday, if I wanted to go out with my friends,

15:02I drew something related to maybe drinking beer theme,

15:05and then somehow people, you know, react for that.

15:09I could use that as a good feedback or, you know, finding my style.

15:18When I was working at the art agency, I had no time to draw.

15:25Whenever I go to the work, I always used to draw on the belly.

15:29Finding time for drawing was really important.

15:32Half an hour in the morning, an hour in the lunchtime,

15:35half an hour on the way back to Manly.

15:39That two hours was my precious time.

15:47Whenever I have a chance to come to the city,

15:49I always like to come and visit the Art Gallery of the New South Wales.

16:04It's a really cool place, you know, just to find the new artwork,

16:09even just, like, feel the atmosphere and find inspiration.

16:12It's pretty cool.

16:15The director of the gallery, he asked me if I'm keen to do, you know,

16:21some painting in the main hall.

16:23And I was like, oh, yeah, but can I do this?

16:26Because I'm just, like, one of the kind of graphic artists.

16:29He was saying that, like, oh, don't worry,

16:31we actually had this happen once back in, like, 90s.

16:34And I was like, who was that?

16:35That was like a kiss herring.

16:37I was like, oh, that's, that's, like, crazy, you know, already.

16:40But I did it.

16:41I was stoked.

16:49I often hung my friend's artwork or products.

16:52This is from my friend's log.

16:55His name is Chrissy.

16:56He's a Sydney-based artist.

16:59And because this is me and my wife's loom,

17:01so, you know, I put the Ben Brown's skulls in.

17:04Ready print.

17:10This could be also my favorite artwork.

17:12I did for personal.

17:14This artwork also, you know, gave me some ideas of, like,

17:17using different colors in different key lines.

17:21What's the importance of the skulls and skeletons?

17:23I just fell in love with the Ben Brown's artwork,

17:28and then, you know, he used lots of, like, cool skeletons and stuff.

17:32Also, I didn't really think I could draw people good.

17:36And then instead of drawing people,

17:37I just started drawing skeletons like Benny.

17:40That's, you know, became my object or my motif.

17:43So, yeah.

17:47I'm thirsty.

17:52I pretty much grew up my adult food in a pub rather than izakaya in other Japanese friends.

17:59I'll get a Japanese dagger.

18:01Yeah, sure.

18:02I think it's a really great place for social gathering.

18:07Cheers.

18:08When I was at 18, I run English at the Lange School.

18:12So every day, every week, when I get a new phase or, like, a new idiom,

18:16I went to the pub and I tried to use that.

18:20Are there any things that you think make Northern beaches really unique?

18:24I guess everywhere there's sort of urban surf culture, you know, you get it in...

18:30Yeah.

18:31I suppose because it's in a big city in Australia, it's different.

18:34There's no other capital cities that are right on the coast like Sydney.

18:38What's the Narrabeen culture like?

18:40Yeah, it's just like, like I was saying, like, pretty competitive and stuff

18:44just because we've had, like, world champions from there and, like, just

18:49lots of competitive surfers and stuff like that.

18:52It's kind of like everyone wants to go and surf there.

18:54Always good surfers coming from Narrabeen.

19:04Surfing, for me, it's just really fun activities or, like, practice.

19:12Because it's so hard to get better.

19:16You know, every wave's a different.

19:20There's, like, so many generations of people from here that have surfed here.

19:25It's been going for 50 years.

19:27Old crew from, like, 80-plus years old to, like, micrograms in our club

19:34and stuff like that.

19:35So it's been a generational thing.

19:39When I work, I always think about ideas

19:42or, like, maybe dealing with emails

19:43or, you know, basically thinking about directions

19:46or myself or everything.

19:49But when I surf, you know, you just don't think about it.

19:53You just have to focus on catching waves

19:56or, you know, even chasing other people.

20:00You completely forget about the work.

20:09I came to Sydney without really knowing anything.

20:12We're lucky, huh?

20:14Then I arrived in Manly.

20:17Blue sky, white suns, colourful signs, cafes, pubs.

20:23Everything looks completely different from where I grew up.

20:28Many times, I could have gone back to Japan,

20:31but I always thought maybe I'd stay a little longer,

20:35maybe surf a little more.

20:38I don't really think about which part of Japan or Australia anymore.

20:43It is just me.

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