His most well-known and repeated subjects are "big-headed girls" with piercing eyes, who one Nara scholar describes as having "childlike expressions [that] resonate with adult emotions, [their] embodiment of kawaii (cuteness) carries a dark humor, and any explicit cultural references are intertwined with personal memories.

[5] His exposure to Western music on the American military radio station Far East Network in Honshu influenced his artistic imagination at an early age.

[9] In June, 2005, Nara's artwork was featured in the album titled "Suspended Animation" by experimental band Fantômas.

[11] Other major retrospectives include: "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me", which toured Japan between 2001 and 2002; and "Yoshitomo Nara: Nothing Ever Happens," which traveled the United States from 2003 to 2005.

In 2019, Nara's installation art Not Everything but/ Green House (2009) was sold for a new record price of HK$40.12m (US$5.12m) at Poly Auction Hong Kong.

Knife Behind Back (2000), a large-scale painting by Nara, just sold at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Sale in Hong Kong for HK$195.7m (US$25m), nearly five times its record.

[17] Nara's upbringing in post-World War II Japan profoundly affected his mindset and, subsequently, his artwork as well.

[18] Additionally, Nara was raised in the isolated countryside as a latchkey child of working-class parents, so he was often left alone with little to do but explore his young imagination.

"[14] In July 2017, The Toyota Municipal Museum of Art held a career retrospective of the artist's work, called for better or worse.

[21] A retrospective of his work, including 100 pieces from 36 years, was exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from April 1, 2021, to January 2, 2022.