The Life of HOKUSAI

“The Life of HOKUSAI” is producing a completely new art experience entertainment which has merged live performance and art exhibition with the theme of “Katsushika Hokusai”.

World-renowned painter “Katsushika Hokusai”

Katsushika Hokusai, a genius painter that Japan is proud of to the world. His masterpiece Kanagawa Okino-Ura is called “The Great Wave” overseas and is said to be as famous as Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. He was selected as one of the “100 most important people of the last 1000 years” by “LIFE” magazine in the U.S., along with Edison and Einstein, and was the only Japanese person to be selected.

In recent years, a book about his life has been published, and a dramatization and film version of his life have also been announced, attracting attention from around the world. We have planned a completely new theatrical artwork based on Hokusai, a master painter, combining live performance and the latest digital projection live performance.

This time, we have taken measures against the COVID-19 infection, and have reconstructed this performing arts work in a special version, and will transmit it to the world as a video work. We will present the life of Hokusai and the impressions of his work that were previously unknown to the public.

About Katsushika Hokusai

Katsushika Hokusai is not only one of Japan’s leading ukiyoe artists, but also one of the most famous Japanese in the world. Katsushika Hokusai is famous for his “36 Views of Mount Fuji” series of landscape paintings featuring Mount Fuji. After the death of Hokusai, his fame spread to Europe, where his innovative works surprised impressionist painters such as Van Gogh, Monet, and Degas, and influenced the “Japonisme” that swept the West in the 19th century. The famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright is also known to have been influenced by Hokusai. Hokusai is an internationally acclaimed painter rather than a Japanese.

Crowdfunding Hokusai Visualization Project

Stage Production Staff

Executive Producer Sugimoto Shin

Stage Producer Ban Norifumi

Composition, Direction and Choreography

The Life of HOKUSAI

Performing arts program commemorates the 260th birth anniversary of HOKUSAI

Sakakura Katsumi

Born in 1963 in Nagoya city, Japan. An artist who expresses the peculiar “movement, rhythm and spirituality” of Japanese traditional culture as an integrated art form. As the world’s first artist to synchronize video and performance, he invented “Projection Live”, which is highly acclaimed even abroad as an originator. He has been invited from 41 countries to perform in 21 TV programs.

He has performed at global events such as the opening ceremony of the Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan and the IOC International Olympic Committee General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur. He has given lectures titled “What is real Japanese COOL?” in Japan and abroad (The University of Tokyo, Moscow University, SOAS University London, Aoyama Gakuin University, Nagoya Gakuin University, etc.), and has spoken at TEDxTokyo to share the beauty of Japan with the world.

Stage appearance
Sakakura Katsumi (Performer)
Katou Karin (Dancer)
Kamata Kunsui (Satsuma biwa player)
Taro Kobayashi (Taiko player)
TiA (Gospel Singer)

Special appearance
Yoshida brothers (Tsugaru shamisen player)

Character Design Okazaki Takashi

Music Fukuhiro Shuichiro

Art and Costume KIRIE

Assistant Choreography Katou Karin

CG Production Animation Cafe

Stage Director Shimojuu Takuya

Sound Takahiro Yoshimura

Lighting Nakamura Yoshio

Production Otani Ichiroki

Title Cooperation Miho (calligrapher)

Music Collaboration Waccha

Still photography
Kanesaka Ryosuke
Hirabayashi Katsumi

Material Collaboration
Sakai Eiji (Edanzo Co., Ltd.)
Kobayashi Sanzaemon Kyu (female calligrapher)

Supervisor Uragami Mitsuru (Uragami Sangyo-do)

Technical Assistance Panasonic Corporation

Sponsorship Zion Co., Ltd.

Planning and Production Global Business Labo, Inc.

Video Production Staff

Executive Producer Sugimoto Shin

Producer Jeong Yeongsu

Director Shimizu Kento

Assistant Director Atanas Ibba Mantchorov

Cinematographer Tsuji Kenji

Production Manager Shirooka Kenji

Sound Tuning and Effects Murata Momoko

Stage Video Recording TBD

Stage Video Distribution Global Business Lab, Inc.

Advertising/Public Relations Rim Entertainment, Inc.

Film Production Rim Entertainment, Inc.

Planning and Production Global Business Labo, Inc.