Education
He received his bachelor"s degree in Photography from the Tokyo University of the Arts and also attended Kuwasawa Academy of Design, and Pasadena"s Art Center College of Design.
He received his bachelor"s degree in Photography from the Tokyo University of the Arts and also attended Kuwasawa Academy of Design, and Pasadena"s Art Center College of Design.
He was raised in Tokyo, Japan, before moving to the United States at age 24. He holds a Black Belt in the Japanese Martial Art of Aikido. Seki is a teacher and writer of Japanese poetry called Senryu, and his poems are often featured in the Japanese newspaper called The Rafu Shimpo.
From 1979 to 2006 he owned his own photography studio in Rosemead, California.
Called "Sunny Seki Photography," it specialized in portraits, weddings, and restoring old photographs. His shadow puppetry has been featured on the Disney Channel show called "What a Life!"
Seki is also an author and illustrator of children"s books, with a focus on Japanese Folktales.
In 2007 his first book, The Tale of the Lucky Cat, was published by East West Discovery Press. This book is published in 8 bilingual editions: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hmong, Tagalog, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Seki"s third book, Yuko-Chan and the Daruma Doll" was released in February 2012, and it is a story about The Adventures of a Blind Japanese Girl Who Saves Her Village.
This book is bilingual, and is printed with both Japanese and English text. Seki"s book Yuko-chan and the Daruma Doll has been the recipient of two major awards. The second honor came from PaperTigers, a website specializing in multicultural books for young readers.
Seki’s book was chosen for the "2012 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Secretariat", which sends a set of four books to schools and libraries around the world.
Seki"s fourth children"s book is titled The Little Kokeshi Doll from Fukushima. This book was self-published and released in July 2015.
lieutenant features Kana-chan, a brave, clever girl who works at a hot springs in Fukushima. One day her village is struck by a huge earthquake, and because of the heroism of Kana-chan, the kokeshi doll is born.
Written in bilingual English and Japanese, it is a beautiful story of the harmony of people nature, traditional craftsmanship, and survival.
Seki has appeared at many events to sign his books throughout California, Arizona, and also in New York City, at such locations as The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Kinokuniya Bookstore, the Arizona Matsuri Festival, and the Japanese-American Museum in Los Los Angeles
Seki is a member of the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry, and he retells Japanese folktales in the form of shadow puppetry.