MARiA Reunites With Former Designer to Kick Off Solo Career

Singer MARiA revealed during a recent livestream for members of her official fan club that artist Sanban Shinjo has returned as her full-time illustrator and visual development designer, reuniting the two for the first time since 2022.

Shinjo previously worked alongside MARiA for six years, beginning his tenure in 2016 with GARNiDELiA’s Yakusoku -Promise code-. During that period, he became a major contributor to the visual development surrounding the singer, including the creation of her stellacage concert outfits and other outfit designs that helped establish MARiA’s distinctive visual identity.

MARiA dawning Shinjo's remake of the iconic Ambiguous dress (Stellacage Tour 2020)

The partnership came to an end in 2022 when Shinjo departed MARiA’s team and withdrew from social media, largely disappearing from public view.

During the livestream, MARiA revealed that Shinjo had continued working in visual development behind the scenes. Among the projects disclosed was his involvement in the visual development for YOASOBI’s performance of PLAYERS at the MUSIC AWARDS.

Despite his absence from the public eye, Shinjo had therefore continued working within the creative industry throughout the four years since his departure from MARiA’s team.

Yoasobi's Lilas performing "Players" (Music Awards Japan 2025)

His return comes at a significantly different point in MARiA’s career. Following GARNiDELiA’s unexpected indefinite hiatus in September 2025, MARiA has begun moving forward with her solo activities and developing a new artistic direction outside of the unit.

As her full-time illustrator and visual development artist, Shinjo will once again be involved in shaping the visual world surrounding MARiA’s work.

The reunion brings together two artists with a creative history stretching back nearly a decade. Shinjo was a significant presence during a formative period of MARiA’s career, contributing to the costumes, imagery and visual concepts that became closely associated with her as a performer.

MARiA performing at MARiAL Live 2022

Now, four years after their partnership ended, Shinjo returns not to recreate the visual identity of MARiA’s past, but to help develop what comes next.

For MARiA, the reunion arrives at the beginning of an uncertain new chapter following the sudden end of GARNiDELiA’s activities. For Shinjo, it marks a return to working publicly alongside the artist whose visual identity he helped shape for six years.

Nearly a decade after Yakusoku -Promise code- first brought them together, MARiA and Sanban Shinjo are working side by side once again.