Yoko Toda was born in Mie, Japan, not far from the ancient capitals of Kyoto and Nara. Her hometown is home to a revered Buddhist temple, and as a child, she often preferred playing in the temple grounds and its garden rather than on the kindergarten playground. The stillness and mystery of the temple left a lasting impression on her.
She also spent much of her early life with her grandparents. Her paternal grandfather was an amateur painter, and her maternal grandfather took photographs using glass plates in the 1920s. Surrounded by quiet creativity, Toda developed a deep sensitivity to visual expression. The camera soon became her first artistic medium.
At the age of 19, as an art student, she was deeply moved by news coverage of the Vietnam War—particularly by a photograph of a Buddhist monk who had self-immolated in protest. Inspired by photojournalists such as Robert Capa, she made the bold decision to travel to Vietnam to witness and document the reality herself.
Toda passed through Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), but soon found herself drawn to neighboring Cambodia. There, in the jungle, she encountered the ruins of Angkor Wat. The quiet power of the ancient temples reminded her of the Buddhist sanctuary from her childhood. She began photographing everything—even while riding a bicycle—capturing what she would later describe as “the unique spirit of the place.” This experience marked the beginning of her artistic journey.
Looking back years later, Toda came to understand the deeper resonance of those early photographs. As Cambodia descended into genocide and civil war during the 1970s, her images became silent witnesses to a world that had since vanished. Her camera had preserved traces of peace and humanity that would soon be lost.
After completing her university studies in Japan, she traveled widely and eventually settled in Milan, Paris, and later New York. During this period, she gradually shifted her focus from photography to painting—a transition that felt both instinctive and inevitable. She has continued painting ever since.