Hajime Sorayama Takes His Business Into His Own Hands

Summary

Sorayama has ended his NANZUKA relationship and launched his own management company.

The move gives him more control over his work, IP and collaborations.

Sorayama says he currently does not control @hajimesorayamaofficial.

For most artists, an estate is something assembled after the fact. Hajime Sorayama is setting his up while he is still very much at work.

As per a press release, the Japanese artist has ended his management relationship with Japan-based gallery NANZUKA and established Sorayama Hajime Estate Co., Ltd., a new company that will serve as the official point of contact for his exhibitions, licensing, collaborations, artwork management and other business affairs. Sorayama confirmed the new structure on August 20, stating that inquiries relating to his work will no longer be handled through NANZUKA.

It’s a significant shift for an artist whose practice has long operated well beyond the walls of a gallery. Sorayama’s chrome-plated visions of humans and machines have moved freely between fine art and commercial design for decades. His work includes the “Sexy Robot” series, which grew out of his first robot drawings in 1978, as well as the concept design for Sony’s original AIBO in 1999. The latter is now part of MoMA’s permanent collection.

In that sense, creating his own company feels less like a withdrawal from the art world than an attempt to take tighter control of everything orbiting the work: the art itself, but also the trademarks, licensing, products and brand collaborations that have made Sorayama one of the rare artists equally recognizable inside a gallery and on a sneaker, album cover or piece of tech.

He’s hardly alone in wanting more control. Galleries remain central to the art market, but collectors have become increasingly comfortable dealing with artists themselves. The latest Art Basel and UBS research found that artist-direct sales accounted for 20% of spending among the high-net-worth collectors surveyed in 2025, double their 10% share in 2021. 43% of respondents had purchased directly from an artist’s studio, while 37% had commissioned works themselves.

That does not mean artists are suddenly doing away with galleries. What does seem to be changing is how much of the machinery around a career an established artist can choose to own. Social media has made direct communication easier, brand collaborations have become businesses unto themselves and, for artists with decades of intellectual property behind them, control over that material can be as important as representation.

Sorayama’s transition isn’t entirely clean yet. His new company says certain trademarks, artworks and other managed assets are still being transferred which could delay the delivery of some works already purchased by collectors. It has also warned that Sorayama and the company currently do not control the Instagram account previously used as his official page, @hajimesorayamaofficial — we’ve linked it here, but it’s currently down.

The announcement also raises a more serious issue surrounding the 2026 KAKAWOW Phantom Hajime Sorayama Trading Cards. Produced by KAKAWOW, the trading-card brand operated by Chinese collectibles company Suplay, the series was allegedly released under what Suplay has described as an exclusive global license for Sorayama collectible cards. Sorayama Hajime Estate is not disputing the series itself, but claims that certain cards marketed as bearing Sorayama’s hand-signed autograph were not actually signed by the artist. The company says it is consulting relevant authorities over suspected forgery and unauthorized use of his signature.

For now, Sorayama says his attention remains on making new work. The structure around him may be changing, but the studio, at least according to the artist, is carrying on as usual. “Throughout my career, I have always pursued the challenge of creating what no one has ever seen before,” he stated in the press release.