Rebooting a Childhood Dream in Your 40s | How a Salaryman Who'd Given Up on Picture Books Used AI to Bring One to Life in 3 Months
機械翻訳 / Machine-translated
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機械翻訳 / Machine-translated
The last time Yamada (42, a sales rep at a manufacturer) opened a sketchbook was just before his university entrance exams. He had dreamed of art school, but anxieties about family finances and the future led him to switch to a general university. He found a job, got married, and had a daughter.
Every night, he reads a picture book from the store aloud before she falls asleep. Her eyes light up with wonder. "I want to read her a picture book I drew myself" — that wish had stayed buried deep in his chest for 15 years.
He had no time to draw. No skill for writing stories. No idea how printing even worked. And above all, there was the heavy weight of resignation: it's too late now.
In January 2026, at drinks with a friend, he heard: "I've started a side hustle with ChatGPT lately. Apparently AI can write text for you." Half-skeptical, he created an account on his phone that same night.
He typed something in as a test: "I'm thinking of a story about a little star going on an adventure to find friends. What kind of plot development would work well?"
Thirty seconds later, the screen filled with the skeleton of a story. Animals the star meets in a forest, missed connections and reunions, and the "true meaning of friendship" discovered at the end. — This is it, he thought.
From that night on, Yamada spent 30 minutes every evening working out his picture book concept with AI. The AI proposed storylines; Yamada pushed back with "more like this" and "that part's off," refining it again and again. In three weeks, a 32-page plot was complete.
The next obstacle was the illustrations.
He dug out old doodles from a notebook and consulted the AI. "I want to draw pictures with this kind of feel, but I can't draw."
A friend introduced him to image-generation AI. In February 2026, Yamada signed up for a plan at ¥1,200 a month and fell into a cycle of writing prompts and generating images over and over.
The first 50 were unusable. The star's shape was off, the colors too dark, the composition wrong — but somewhere past the 100th image, ones that felt like this is it started appearing.
Whatever the generation alone couldn't handle, he adjusted with a free design tool. Cutting out backgrounds, placing text, tidying up the page layout. By the end of February, illustrations for all 32 pages were ready.
For printing, he placed an order with a small-lot printing company he found online. Ten days after submitting the data files, a cardboard box arrived at his door.
He opened it, and there were 20 copies of an A5-size picture book, lined up neatly. His own name, in the author field. When he picked one up, he felt the weight of the paper in his hands.
That night, he handed it to his daughter (age 6) and said, "Papa made this picture book." She opened her eyes wide and turned the pages. "This star is cute." "I like this bunny." — It was the moment 15 years' worth of "someday" became his daughter's voice.
All Yamada used was a conversational AI (ChatGPT), an image-generation AI, and a free design tool. Total cost: roughly ¥5,000. Production time: 3 months.
"It's not like AI did everything," Yamada says. He worked out the heart of the story himself. He remade the generated illustrations again and again. — But AI made a path visible where "I can't" could become "I can."
Now Yamada is working out the concept for his second book. This time, he plans to come up with the story together with his daughter. "Next, I want to make a story where she's the hero," he says with a smile — and there on the table in front of him, a sketchbook lies open again.
For people like Yamada — who wanted to make a picture book but couldn't get themselves moving — where should they start right now?
First, build the story's skeleton together with a conversational AI. Perfect prose can come later. Just decide on three things — character, setting, and plot — and the next step comes into view.
Next, use image-generation AI to sharpen the "resolution of your vision." Try putting into words the image that exists inside your head. At first it won't go the way you want, but after 50, 100 tries, "that kind of feeling" starts to take shape.
Finally, use a small-lot printing service to turn it into something you can hold. There are many services that accept data file submissions, and you can order as few as 20 copies. Having just one copy for someone to read is what propels you toward the next creative work.
HAIIA's certification program offers a systematic path from the basics of using AI all the way to hands-on practice. Not just for picture book creation — it's where you build the skills to get your own "someday" moving alongside AI.
Yamada couldn't draw either. Image-generation AI takes a prompt — an instruction like "I want a picture that looks like this" — and generates an image in seconds. At first it won't come out the way you envision, but the more you try, the closer it gets. You don't need the skill to draw; the ability to put into words "what kind of picture you want" is enough to make it work.
AI is a tool — a collaborator. The heart of the story, the characters' personalities, the choices about plot development: all of that is decided by you. Whether to adopt an idea the AI suggests is also your call. The responsibility for, and the pride in, the finished work belong to the person who made it. HAIIA's Three Pillars organizes a framework for thinking about self-realization in creative work in the age of AI.
In Yamada's case, the total came to roughly ¥8,000: conversational AI (¥2,000/month × 2 months), image-generation AI (¥1,200/month × 1 month), and printing costs (approximately ¥3,000 for 20 copies). Many services offer free plans you can try, so it's entirely possible to build a prototype starting at ¥0.
Picture books, music, games, novels — what each person gave up is different.
But the tool that turns "I can't" into "I can" is now right there in your hand. The moment Yamada got moving was late at night in January 2026, when he created an account on his phone.
What is your "someday"? It starts moving the moment you try talking to an AI tomorrow.
Join our community, where people who have begun chasing their dreams in the age of AI come together to share what they've learned. Don't struggle alone — take that first step.
This article is reprinted from HAIIA Notes.