Taiga Kasai

About

Taiga Kasai (Japanese: カサイ タイガ, Kasai Taiga) is a Japanese illustrator known for his work on the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG). He was the Japanese First Runner-Up in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Illustration Contest 2022, and his runner-up artwork was later used as his first official Pokémon card—a Greninja promo in the SWSH Black Star Promos. Kasai has illustrated approximately 24 TCG cards overall, with notable pieces including Mega Gengar ex, Mega Hawlucha ex, and Houndoom. In addition to TCG cards, he contributed artwork as a sticker artist for Pokémon GO and Pokémon HOME starting in 2023. Kasai graduated from Tama Art University, Department of Graphic Design, and works as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. He draws digitally using an iPad Pro. His first inspiration came from an illustration of Pokémon made by his father, who was also an artist. Kasai has a long-standing love for the Pokémon TCG, partly due to the variety of unique illustrators involved. His favorite Pokémon games are Ruby and Sapphire, and his favorite Pokémon is Aggron.