Year of the Dragon Ema

Konatsu Koizumi is a Japanese artist and toy designer best known for her adorable yet fierce kaiju (monster) art toys, particularly her signature character, Negora—a cat-inspired kaiju. Her work blends traditional Japanese aesthetics with modern sofubi (soft vinyl) toy culture, creating highly collectible and charming figures. Her most famous creation, Negora, is a cat-like monster with a playful yet destructive personality, inspired by classic Japanese kaiju movies like Godzilla and Ultraman. Beyond Negora, she has designed other animal-based creatures like Shibara (a Shiba Inu kaiju), Pigora (a pig monster), and Daioh Negora (a larger, more powerful version of Negora). Her work has gained a strong following among sofubi collectors, kaiju fans, and designer toy enthusiasts, making Konatsu one of the most recognizable contemporary sofubi artists in Japan. Year of the Dragon Ema (絵馬, lit. 'picture-horse') are small wooden plaques, common to Japan, in which Shinto and Buddhist worshippers write prayers or wishes.