In elementary school, his painting of "Yukiai War" won a competition and was displayed at the Tottori Daimaru Department Store.

[3] When he was an art student, Aoyama had a part-time job working at Tokyo Disneyland, where he painted backgrounds for Pirates of the Caribbean.

[7] Aoyama made his debut as a manga artist with Chotto Mattete, which was published in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday in winter of 1987.

[9] Additionally, his hometown Hokuei has undertaken several machi okoshi (town revitalization) projects in honor of his contribution as a manga artist and resident.

[11] On May 5, 2005, Aoyama married Minami Takayama, the singer of Two-Mix and voice actress for Conan in the anime adaptation of Case Closed.