Eiji × Eiji二人の経歴

Eiji Watanabe and Eiji Watanabe渡辺英司と渡辺英治

The same surname, the same given name, the same reading, born a year apart. On the left, the artist Eiji Watanabe; on the right, the neuroscientist Eiji Watanabe. Never crossing, they draw closer and meet in 2024. What the two share is placed in the middle.

“Sea of Eden”: cut-out fish spread across a tatami room
⑥ “Sea of Eden,” in the tatami room of the Rest BuildingPhoto: Kenji Aoki
“Transforming three-dimensional object (stars and circles)”: a yellow object and a mirror
② “Transforming three-dimensional object (stars and circles),” Management BuildingPhoto: Kenji Aoki / Invented by Kokichi Sugihara (mathematician)

Eiji Watanabe

Artist美術家

Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1961. Graduated from the sculpture course of Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music in 1985. In 2004–2005 he stayed in Scotland as an overseas research fellow of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and was a visiting researcher at Edinburgh College of Art. Known for the “Garden of the Appellation” series of plants and fish cut out of illustrated encyclopedias, for titles that play on words, and for making places: Star Gallery, Art Obulist, Jingu339. He works in studios in Nagoya and Agui.

Profile of the artist

Eiji Watanabe

Scientist神経科学者

Born in the old downtown of Osaka in 1962. Graduated from the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Osaka University, in 1986, and received a Ph.D. in engineering there in 1991. Associate professor of the Laboratory of Neurophysiology at the National Institute for Basic Biology in Okazaki since 1998, and head of its AI analysis facility since 2022. He studies the brain’s sodium-level sensor Nax, vision and social behavior in medaka, and optical illusions and deep learning, and presents optical illusions of his own. His books include a beginner’s guide to deep learning for neuroscientists 『神経科学者と学ぶ深層学習超入門』 (Yodosha, 2025).

Profile of the scientist

Parallel timeline 1961–2026パラレル年表 1961–2026

Eiji Watanabe (artist)Eiji Watanabe (neuroscientist)Shared

  1. 1961
    Born in Aichi Prefecture
  2. 1962
    Born in the old downtown of Osaka
  3. 1985
    Graduated from the sculpture course, Aichi Prefectural University of Fine Arts and Music
  4. 1986
    Graduated from the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Osaka University
  5. 1989
    First solo exhibition (Stegosaurus Studio, Nagoya; to 1993)
    First paper (Neuroscience)
  6. 1991
    Shown in the 10th “Parallelism in Art”
    Ph.D. in engineering, Osaka University
  7. 1992
    Researcher at the Aichi Institute for Developmental Research. Moves to Aichi
  8. 1994
    First solo exhibition at Kenji Taki Gallery, “Stroke of Projection”
  9. 1995
    Assistant professor at the National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki. The Neuroglycan C paper
  10. 1997
    “Name of a Star,” “Garden of the Appellation 1997”
  11. 1998
    Associate professor at the National Institute for Basic Biology and at the Graduate University for Advanced Studies
  12. 2000
    The paper on the Nav2/NaG channel, which controls salt intake (J Neurosci)
  13. 2001
    First residencies, “Art in the Home” (Yamaguchi 2001, Edinburgh 2002)
    The paper on Nax, the brain’s sodium sensor (Nat Neurosci, 2002). PRESTO researcher (to 2006)
  14. 2004
    To Scotland on an Agency for Cultural Affairs fellowship (to 2005)
  15. 2007
    “All about Laughter” at the Mori Art Museum; “Cycle and Recycle” at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art
    The paper on glial Nax (Neuron)
  16. 2009
    “Talking Mirror” (Mugaen, Hekinan); “Butterfly’s-Eye View” (Cairn Gallery, Scotland)
  17. 2010
    Aichi Triennale 2010. Opens Star Gallery (to 2016)
    First paper on optical illusions (with Akiyoshi Kitaoka, Vision Research)
  18. 2013
    Nissan Art Award 2013
  19. c.2015
    “Between Botany and Art,” Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art
    Searching for images of “eijiwatanabe,” the artist finds a researcher with the same name and images of optical illusions
  20. 2016
    Founds Art Obulist; “Hurry! Slowly”
    Produces an art exhibition at the National Institute for Basic Biology (Toshiki Mikami, a former student of the artist, takes part)
  21. 2017
    ARTZUID (Amsterdam)
    The paper on seasonal changes in color vision (Nat Commun)
  22. 2018
    “Dream of Butterfly” (Fuji, to 2019)
    A predictive-learning AI reproduces the “rotating snakes” illusion (Front Psychol). Co-authors 『ロマンで古代史は読み解けない』
  23. 2020
    “Merman”
    The optical illusion “Morning Monster” (with Lana Sinapayen)
  24. 2022
    “Sea of Eden”
    Head of the AI analysis facility. Illusion patterns extracted from photographs and paintings (Sci Rep)
  25. 2023
    Opens Jingu339 (Nagoya)
  26. 2024
    “The Morning Star”
    In autumn, the artist meets Hidehiko Komatsu at the Okazaemon art festival. In December, first meeting at the National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki
  27. 2025
    Tokyo Biennale, ARTZUID 2025
    Publishes 『神経科学者と学ぶ深層学習超入門』
    11.1–12.7 Eiji Watanabe Exhibition “Morning Monsters / W Eiji” (Okura Park, Obu)
  28. 2026
    8.17 The YouTube channel “Hakase to Dokeshi” introduces the research and art of Eiji Watanabe (neuroscientist)
    3.28 counter lecture vol.02 “Analyze W Eiji” (Masaki Watabe, Jingu339); 3.31 Catalogue published; 7.17 Video of the talk released; 8.20 The two Eijis lecture together at Aichi University of Education

Sources: the biographies in the catalogue, the artist talk “We Two are Tacticians” (2025.11.22), the exhibition report. The timeline will be extended.