[1] His illustrations of "large-headed" (nitōshin) baby-faced girls, first drawn for Japanese magazines in the mid-1950s, are credited with pioneering the contemporary culture and aesthetic of kawaii (lit.

[4] Naito's "Rune Girl" illustrations, first published in Junior Soleil, were distinguished by their large heads (nitōshin) and baby-faced features.

[1] Though Naito's erotic illustrations were historically excluded from retrospectives of his work, recent exhibitions (such as 2019's "Roots of Kawaii") have begun to include them.

[1] Beginning in the 1980s, Naito began to create works that were a departure from his early kawaii aesthetic, such as oil paintings and freehand sketches influenced by Henri Rousseau.

[10] In 2011, 6%DOKIDOKI [ja] founder Sebastian Masuda launched "Rune Boutique", an exhibition and pop-up shop featuring Naito's works, in Los Angeles.