Maya Tomiyama is half American and half Japanese. She grew up in Zoshigaya, Tokyo. She spent her childhood traveling back and forth between the West Coast of the United States and Japan. She attended New York University, where she majored in English and American Literature with a minor in Fine Arts. After graduation, she was active in music as a solo artist and in a rock band. She began painting almost daily in July 2016, moved to Amakusa in 2020, and held her first solo exhibition at Yaneura (a shop called the "attic of a bookstore and letterpress printing shop") in the spring of 20201, selling out 12 original paintings. She also creates illustrations for labels of local products.

Loves the mountains (hiking), the ocean (snorkeling), and animals. Her current work space is a storage space on the second floor of the private house where she lives with her husband and two sons. Her dream is to have a studio near the sea or in the mountains with a nice view. While working as a translator, she is constantly searching for new ways to paint pictures and to convey the joy of painting.