Our Approach
Natsukoarts Design Studio is focused on providing stories that showcase diversity and empowerment. Themes that promote self esteem, personal discovery and finding your genuine self are front and center.
With the novels, Natsukoarts has recently branched into RPG gaming and manga to tell its stories. We listened to teens on social media to address themes such as bullying, mental health, gender identity, marginalization, and net neutrality.
Our Story
Starting in college when Natsuya was unable to find books that featured LGBT characters in positions of power, he decided to create stories himself. Natsukoarts strives to fill a void showcasing stories with LGBT characters focused more on character development and world building than romance.
Meet the Team
Who are we? Lets start with the key players.
Shoji
Founder, Influencer
studio manager, blogger, and business liaison.
A businessman and player in social media circles, Shoji has been blogging about LGBT causes and bullying for years. Founder of Natsukoarts Design Studio in New York City, he is a voice in the transgender and LGBT community wanting to see LGBT messages of power reach the mainstream and influence minds ending the stigma about gay and transgender youth. Shoji was the brainchild behind the Natsukoarts Outreach initiative which helps to provide needed counseling and mentoring services to LGBT and QPoC homeless and at risk youth. His passion for providing teens with tools for success drives his passionate dedication focused on mental health, HIV, addiction, and self-esteem services in particular.
Recently Natsukoarts started providing free cloth face masks to homeless teens for Corona Virus protection. With each purchase an additional mask is sent free to a teen in need. So far over 50 masks have been donated. The masks feature the grydscaen Packrat hacker mole system mascot in colorful designs representing the different Pride flag colours. Check them out in the Natsukoarts store and pick up one or two so we can donate more to homeless teens.
Natsuya
Author, Mangaka
author, illustrator, hacker, manga artist.
A writer with a BA degree in English, a minor in Japanese, an art degree in animation, and an MBA in International Management, certificate in Social Engineering and multiple awards for articles on Net Neutrality, Privacy,, LGBT Youth Homelessness, Cybersecurity and Cyberbullying, Natsuya is writing his dream of showcasing fictional minority characters in positions of power.
Of Mixed Multi-cultural heritage (Indigenous, Asian, French, Scottish, Dutch, African-American), he sees life through the lens of challenge, marginalization, personal power and systemic marginalization. With ADHD on the Autism Spectrum and Transgender as a QPoC minority voice often silenced and invisible in mainstream literature, film, and manga, Natsuya focuses on bringing stories of empowerment, truth, triumph and hope against insurmountable odds. Using fiction, fantasy, and yaoi to spread his positive message, he writes to encourage LGBT, non gender conforming, and neurodivergent young people to live their truth and dare to be their genuine selves. His stories, lauded for bringing visibility for featuring Queer People of Colour, his writing showcases the power of a multicultural viewpoint daring to pen diverse, real world fiction that fosters the complex aesthetic and art of #OwnVoices realness, beauty,and truth.
Full Natsuya Author Bio at: https://www.grydscaen.com/author/
Next Steps
See all the positive stories we have to offer.