Sotaro Takanami
Could you share how your journey in the arts began and who were your major artistic influences growing up in Tokyo?
I was born in Tokyo on July 12, 1949. My father was very fond of painting, and when I was little, he often took me along when he went to nearby Arisugawa Park, or to the ruins of an old dam on the Tama River near Shin-Maruko Station on the Tokyo Line, to paint. When we went down to the riverbank, swarms of grasshoppers would rise into the air and fly away. I have indelible memories of chasing them endlessly. My mother was a very hard worker with a feisty temperament, very diligent, and extremely fond of animals. Cats, rabbits, and other animals trusted her; they were like children drawn to their mother. I believe I inherited my father’s talent for painting and my mother’s sunny but feisty temperament. People say that when I was very small, I used to draw robots and comic book heroes all over the pavement with soapstone or colored chalk, and even on the sliding doors and windowpanes of our house.
On one Occasion, when I was five, I went to a nearby field to catch insects with Kakkun, my friend from next door. We were chasing butterflies in grass that grew higher than our heads, and we couldn’t see where we were going. I lost my footing and fell into a river flowing about five meters below. When I called out for help, my mouth filled with water and I could not speak. As I began to lose consciousness, I could see blue sky through the water. This is my first vivid memory. I was carried along for nearly 100 meters, and just before I was swept into a large manhole under the Ichi-no-hashi bridge in Azabu, I was saved by a man who was nearby. I had narrowly escaped death. I suffered from gastrointestinal problems from around the time I entered junior high school. In my second year of high school, I weighed less than 30 kilograms. I was attending a technical high school that did not suit me, could not eat the foods I liked, and was restricted in many ways. I felt somehow resigned to my life being short; there seemed little to hope for.
The only thing that saved me was my mother’s strong love for her son. She refused to let me die. Then I encountered a doctor of Chinese medicine in Iidabashi, and my condition improved rapidly. I had always hated exercise, but I started going to the gym and began to gain weight. It was during this period that I met an art student, older than myself. He told me I had talent and that I had better become a painter, and I decided to pursue painting as a career.
Your 1986 print book "Nature" was released in both Tokyo and Paris.What inspired this work, and how does nature influence your artistic process?
Nature is a collection of hand-colored woodblock prints of fruits. Around this time, I was creating hand-colored woodblock prints, and I was particularly fond of using fruits as motifs. To date, there are more than 1,000 prints. Nature is always inspiring. The universe is my source of inspiration. I especially like the sea and often go there. Various voices can be heard from the sea. Life, death, hope, remorse, I go out to talk to the sea. Then I like the wind very much. Memories are revived with the wind, and the past, present, and future can be felt at the same time, albeit for a moment.
You've had the opportunity to exhibit your work at international locations like the Yoshii Gallery and the Reunion des Musees Nationaux ARLYS. How have these international experiences shaped your artistic perspective?
I believe that if I make a good work, it will be accepted anywhere in the world.
The "12 Monkey Haiku" collection is among your acclaimed works. Could you describe the integration of poetry and visual art in this project and its significance to you?
In 2003, President Chozo Yoshii called me to an art gallery and asked me to write haiku of famous people of the past in ink on construction paper. And I was asked to add a picture to the haiku. As I moved the brush around as I came up with it, I was instructed to add color next.
When I colored it like a doodle, I was made to make 10 pictures in the same way. And I was told that I would immediately send it to rubles. Two weeks later, I was called back to the gallery and told that if I did the same thing as last time with hand-colored woodcuts, it would be published as a book by RMN. In 2002, President Chirac, Miss. Sophie Terranova, the secretary to the president, and the curator of the Louvre Museum came to my very large solo exhibition at the Gallery Yoshii in Paris, and they seemed to like my hand-colored woodblock prints. It's not so much the significance of the production, but rather the feeling that I descended from heaven and created freely and happily. The book appeared in the library of the Louvre, the Musée Guimet, and in famous French bookstores. I was very happy at that time.
You've described your art as an expression of daily emotions. Could you elaborate on your creative process and how you translate these emotions into your artworks?
I consider myself a fiction writer. Emotions such as pain, sadness, anger, and joy in daily life motivate me to paint. Feel nature, find a theme, and hit it on the canvas. When you fall in love or bereavement of someone you love. I feel like I can draw better things when I'm frustrated when things aren't going well.
Being invited to the Elysee Palace is a notable honor. How did this recognition affect your career, and what was the experience like?
The exhibition of original paintings of "12 Monkey Haiku" at the Yoshii Gallery in France was a very large exhibition, and many people, including the director of the museum, came. I was very excited every day during the solo exhibition.When "12 Haiku Selections" was published in conjunction with my solo exhibition and I was invited to the Elysée Palace with President Yoshii, I didn't understand its existence. I was nervous, and I remember having a meal and talking with the people involved at the Elysée Palace. After that, I was taught by various people, and I understood that I had a rare experience.I felt and was grateful that such a miraculous thing could happen. But this is just a passing point in my life.
The Beginning of Space: The Beginning of The Gods: The Beginning of The Gods: This publication was released with the support of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in the Middle East. What was the inspiration behind this book, and why was it important for it to be published in that region?
I had a friend at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Japan, and he told me that the Middle East is very strife and he wants to publish a book that appeals to people's hearts. It was said that it was good to have something that conveyed the goodness of Japan and could be presented to the emperor and nobility. I felt that he believed in the power of my paintings. After the book's publication, the former foreign minister of Iraq and the royal family of Ajman in the UAE came to see my solo exhibition.
How did the opportunity to create makeup sketches for the sumo wrestler Yokozuna Hakuhoseki come about, and how does this work differ from your usual subjects?
A friend of mine (Hideaki Tomiyama: wrestling gold medalist and current president of the Japan Wrestling Association) introduced me to yokozuna Hakuho. While we were dating, I was asked to design an applying makeup. Yokozuna is the top sumo wrestler and is like a god as the national sport. Two sumo wrestlers are placed on either side of the yokozuna, and there is a ceremony to dedicate themselves to the gods. At that time, the applying makeup will be showcased. Therefore, three designs were required. One sword-bearer's applying make-up is a snow leopard, and the other's dew-wielding is a red Fuji and chrysanthemum flower applying make-up. The yokozuna Hakuho in the center wears a divine bird phoenix flying high in the sky. The finished product is all embroidered. It depends on the skill of the craftsman, so I didn't calm down until I saw the finished product. But I'm glad that Yokozuna was pleased. It has been featured dozens of times on NHK TV and newspapers.
Since 2019, you've actively participated in international art fairs. How do these fairs contribute to your career, and what do you aim to achieve by participating in them?
How my work is evaluated by the world is an important theme for the rest of my life. It is very popular at art fairs everywhere and is widely covered in newspapers, etc., but it is still far from my goal.
Looking forward to your 2024 solo exhibition at the Takashimaya Archives Museum, what themes or new directions can we expect to see in your upcoming works?
The exhibition at the Takashimaya Historical Museum was held from January 10 to February 26, 2024. The Takashimaya Historical Museum opened in 1970, and since it was my first solo exhibition by a living artist, I heard that it was the first number of visitors since its founding, with a wide range of interviews from NHK and the media. It was also my first retrospective exhibition from my 20s to the present, and it was very fulfilling. I think that this is just a passing point and I will continue to work on it in the future. For me, painting is like drinking water in the desert. Painting is a living proof. As long as I am alive, I will only draw the image of waking up in the morning and descending from heaven.