Ink Becoming

Held at the Château des ducs de Bretagne in Nantes, the exhibition LA VAGUE HOKUSAI ran from June 28 to September 7. At the opening, a live calligraphy performance gave rise to the work The Wave – Without Water, No Calligraphy, created by tracing an ancient character for “water” as a tribute to Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa. The piece remained on view throughout the exhibition and was officially donated to the museum. This moment offered a vivid sense of the power of Hokusai’s universe and fostered meaningful exchanges during the workshops held on site.

This work was created to mark the opening of LUMINE’s Singapore store. It symbolically expresses, through the dynamic movement of the brush, the vision of sharing a flexible Japanese lifestyle from this crossroads of cultures, as well as the concept “I Am Who I AM.”Carrying an affirmative message that celebrates being true to oneself, the work has been adopted as a brand symbol.

I was selected for the “L’ART AUX CARMES” project, where each year, a different artist creates an original artwork on a cement fermentation tank. My work will also feature on the label of the 2022 vintage wine, scheduled for release in the summer of 2025. This project, launched by Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion in 2015, symbolises the fusion of art and winemaking through visual storytelling and immersive installations.

In February 2017, I performed live calligraphy for the launch of the Zenith El Primero Range Rover Special Edition. The theme of the piece was “HOPE.” As it was the Year of the Rooster, I wrote “Hōbu” (鳳舞), evoking the image of a phoenix gracefully dancing through time. The venue resembled a traditional Japanese tea room, and I added a layer of wordplay: “Hōbu” (phoenix dance) phonetically overlaps with the English “hope.” With this piece, I wished that time itself, for those who received this watch, would be filled with hope.

Star Wars Visions Presents -The Ninth Jedi – 2025 Production IG will be producing a series for Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi from Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Visions anime project. This will be the first animation series where Japanese anime and Star Wars come together and will be a continuation of the story in The Ninth Jedi, released in 2021, and The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope, which will be released in October 2025. Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi will premiere in 2026, only on Disney+.

Kura Master is a prestigious sake competition in France, held annually since 2017 and judged primarily by European professionals—including MOF holders, top sommeliers, and hospitality leaders. To express the refreshing qualities of sake, I dynamically used sumi ink mixed with gold metallic pigment. This project continues to be a vital bridge between Japanese sake culture and French connoisseurship.