Born in Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture in 1968. After graduating from Nagoya University of the Arts, Tetsuji Yamashita started his career as a graphic designer at design office. When he was still a student, he took a year off and I traveled to Kenya and attended Japan Africa Culture Interchange Institute - Kenya / Swahili lanugage school. He also traveled to five different countries including Zimbabwe after graduating and experienced different cultures in Africa. He started his career as an artist after returning to Japan and start making his artwork based on his travel experiences which received an award at Grand Prix International Le Monde de la Culture et des Arts Cannes-Azur 2007. A unique technique is described as a "paper quilt" and had multiple solo and group exhibitions not just in Japan, but aorld wide as well.