[4] Amano's influences include early Western comic books, Orientalism, art nouveau, and Japanese woodblock prints.

[11] In the 1970s, Amano studied the artworks of the late 19th century and early 20th century European movement of Art Nouveau, as well as the Russian orientalists (Leon Bakst, Ivan Bilibin) and the ancient Japanese hand woodblock printing work of Ukiyo-e.[11] Amano remained at Tatsunoko Productions until 1982.

[14] At this time, he also worked for another video game company, Kure Software Koubou, producing box cover illustrations as well as some character designs.

[15] Following Final Fantasy VI in 1994, he stepped down as the main character, image, and graphic designer of the series.

[16] Amano became the world's highest-earning artist in 1996, earning $40,000,000 (equivalent to $78,000,000 in 2023) that year from sales of silk screens, lithographs and etchings based on his book illustrations.

[17] In 2006, Hironobu Sakaguchi, the former designer and creator of the Final Fantasy series, recruited Amano and composer Nobuo Uematsu to work on video games at Mistwalker.

[20][21] In 1998, Amano appeared as Hiroshi in the movie New Rose Hotel, loosely based on the William Gibson short story of the same name.

He illustrated three album covers for the Japanese power metal band Galneryus: The Flag of Punishment (2003), Advance to the Fall (2005), and Beyond the End of Despair (2006).

[25] In 2004 Amano was asked by creative director GK Reid to create illustrations in collaboration with author Neil Gaiman and featuring David Bowie and Iman as sci-fi characters, for "The Return of the Thin White Duke" a portion of which were published in V Magazine.

[26] In 2008, Amano created an illustrated adaptation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute, published by Radical Comics.

[30] The roughly ten-minute-long conference revealed details about the project, including staff, as well as a short trailer for the film, which stylistically emulates the look of Amano's paintings.

[33] In 2013, Amano collaborated with Japanese rock star Hyde (L'Arc-en-Ciel/VAMPS) on an art exhibition titled Destiny and Decay: Nippon Evolution.

[34] On July 2, 2023, Amano appeared at Anime Expo to reveal the cover art for the classical single "Requiem" by rock artist Yoshiki.