Freelance Illustrator For Children’s Book

We are looking for a freelance illustrator to collaborate on current and upcoming children’s book projects. This role is part-time, project-based, and designed to fit flexibly alongside other work.

There are two potential projects, one starting soon and one ongoing.

Project 1: Current Book (Short-term, starting mid-February)

A project may become available around mid-February, depending on the completion timeline of the current illustration work.

This project would involve:

• Touch-up and refinement of existing completed illustrations
• Adding or adjusting visual elements within several images
• Working from an existing visual style and references already created

There is a small possibility that this project may also include illustrating the book cover. If so, the illustrator would be credited on the inside cover of the book.

The first publication of this book will be in Japanese. If an English version is approved in the future, a potential follow-up task would be adding English text to the existing layouts, depending on editorial requirements.

Project 2: Second Book (Ongoing, flexible timeline)

The second project involves illustration work for a new children’s book currently in development. This book features a train as the main character.

This is a longer-term, ongoing collaboration with a flexible schedule. Timely communication, steady progress, and collaboration with the author are expected, but deadlines are designed to fit around the illustrator’s existing workload.

For this project, the illustrator should be able to:

• Sketch and develop a cute, expressive train character
• Illustrate human characters (passengers)
• Create rail station and train-related scenes
• Work comfortably with children’s book layouts, including text placement
• Understand print requirements such as page layout, DPI, bleed, and margins

Role Details

• Freelance, part-time position
• Paid on an hourly basis
• No benefits, tax support, or long-term employment guarantees
• This is a creative collaboration project rather than a high-budget commercial commission (no one is getting rich here, just making good books)

Ideal Candidate

• Experience or strong interest in children’s book illustration
• Comfortable working within existing visual styles
• Familiar with print-ready illustration requirements
• Bilingual and bicultural (Japanese and English preferred)
• Interested in storytelling through illustration and character-driven design

How to Apply

Please submit to jobs@metropolisjapan.com

• A short introduction
• A link to your portfolio (children’s illustration work preferred)
• Your availability and hourly rate
• Any relevant experience with book illustration or print projects