In 1986 he won the Suntory Arts Prize for his book "Adventures of an Architectural Detective-Tokyo Edition" (建築探偵の冒険・東京篇 in Japanese). That year, he also one of the first members of the "Roadside Observation" art group (路上観察学会 in Japanese) with the artist Genpei Akasegawa and the illustrator and manga artist Shinpo Minami.