TARO100 Festival
TARO100 Festival—Taro Okamoto’s 100th Birthday Anniversary Project
2011 marked the centenary of the birth of Taro Okamoto. It also signaled the beginning of the next hundred years and we would like to treasure it as being a bridge between the two centuries. Together with a large number of like-minded people, we developed the ‘Taro Okamoto’s 100th Birthday Anniversary Project’. The Taro Okamoto Memorial Foundation itself held a live event at the Roppongi Hills on February 26, his 100th birthday, then again on October 15 we held a one-day film event at Omotesando Hills. However, the TARO100 Festival was not intended to simply honor Taro Okamoto. It is not necessary for us to worship or imitate Taro Okamoto. That is what we thought. Taro Okamoto left ‘Taro Okamoto’ for us and what is needed now is for everybody to inherit his DNA and become TARO. That was our concept.
TARO100 Festival Live at Roppongi Hills Arena(1)
TARO100 Festival Live at Roppongi Hills Arena(2)
Program of Events for the TARO100 Festival
| November 16, 2010 | Press release *Taro Okamoto Memorial Foundation for the Promotion of Contemporary Art / Roppongi Hills Café |
| November 16, 2010 | Official website established *Taro Okamoto Memorial Foundation for the Promotion of Contemporary Art |
| January 6, 2011 | Announcement advertisement (Nikkei Newspaper) *Taro Okamoto Memorial Foundation for the Promotion of Contemporary Art |
| January 23–December 18, 2011 | Taro’s calligraphy for ‘Peach’ chosen for Kawasaki Frontale football team’s symbol |
| February 23–June 26, 2011 | ‘Tree of Life’ exhibition. *Taro Okamoto Memorial Foundation for the Promotion of Contemporary Art / Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum |
| February 24, 2011 | Message advertisement (Asahi Shimbun) Asahi Shimbun Advertising Division |
| February 26, 2011 | TARO100 Festival Live at Roppongi Hills Arena. *Taro Okamoto Memorial Foundation for the Promotion of Contemporary Art / Roppongi Hills Arena |
| February 26–June 25, 2011 | NHK television drama ‘Taro’s Tower’ (4 episodes plus 1 special program). NHK |
| March 1, 2011 | The mosaic mural, ‘Dance’ is restored and displayed. Takashimaya / Takashimaya Osaka Branch |
| March 5–May 10, 2011 | ‘Golden Mask’ exhibition. Commemorative Organization for the Japan World Exposition ’70 / Expo ’70 Pavilion, Expo ’70 Commemorative Park |
| March 8–May 8, 2011 | ‘Okamoto Taro: The 100th Anniversary of His Birth’. National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo / Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki. NHK, NHK Promotion / National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo |
| April 1–June 24, 2011 | NHK documentary, ‘Taro and Toshiko, Jakucho Setouchi Speaks of their Supreme Love’. NHK |
| May 31–June 26, 2011 | ‘Taro Okamoto and Okinawa’ exhibition. Bunka-no-mori Kyodo Kigyotai / Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum |
| May 20–December 26, 2011 | ‘Face is Space’ exhibition. Parco—Shibuya, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka & Hiroshima branches |
| Jun 9–June 13, 2011 | Drama: ‘Tower of the Sun’. Okabe Planning / Kinokuniya Hall |
| June 27, 2011 | ‘Young Clock Tower’, Restoration and Unveiling / Sukiyabashi Park, Chuo-ku, Tokyo |
| June 29–October 23, 2011 | ‘Another Taro’ exhibition. *Taro Okamoto Memorial Foundation for the Promotion of Contemporary Art / Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum |
| August 27–October 10, 2011 | ‘Sun of the Underworld’ exhibition. Commemorative Organization for the Japan World Exposition ’70 / Expo ’70 Pavilion, Expo ’70 Commemorative Park |
| October 1, 2011 | ‘Young Clock Tower’, Restoration and Unveiling. Meitetsu Impress / Japan Monkey Park |
| October 14, 2011 | Reproduction and sales of Taro’s ‘Dice Chair’. Glocal Standard Products |
| October 15, 2011 | One-day film festival, ‘Roll Over TARO!’ *Taro Okamoto Memorial Foundation for the Promotion of Contemporary Art / Omotesando Hills |
| October 15, 2011 | Production of the documentary film, ‘Taro Okamoto’. Taro Okamoto Memorial Foundation for the Promotion of Contemporary Art |
| October 25–November 6, 2011 | ‘TARO LOVE’ exhibition. Seibu Shibuya Branch / |
| October 28, 2011– February 26, 2012 |
‘Kenji Yanobe: Sun Child, Taro’s Children’ exhibition. *Taro Okamoto Memorial Foundation for the Promotion of Contemporary Art / Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum |
| December 4, 2011 | Mayumi Wakamura speaks about ‘Kanoko Okamoto’. Mito Municipal Art Promotion Foundation / ACM Theater, Mito Art Tower |
| December 8–December 18, 2011 | ‘Kodo One Earth Tour 2011’ Aoyama concert. Yomiuri Shimbun, Kitamaebune / National Children’s Castle, Aoyama Theater |
| December 16–December 25, 2011 | ‘Illuminight World Expo Xmas’. Commemorative Organization for the Japan World Exposition ’70 / Tower of the Sun |
| February 26, 2012 | Closing Reception. *Taro Okamoto Memorial Foundation for the Promotion of Contemporary Art /Aoyama AO * Organized by the Taro Okamoto Memorial Foundation for the Promotion of Contemporary Art with Akiomi Hirano as general producer |
NHK Drama ‘Taro’s Tower’
‘Young Clock Tower’, Restoration and Unveiling / Sukiyabashi Park
Fifteen years after his death, Taro finally enters a national museum for the first time. It was a great success.
‘Okamoto Taro: The 100th Anniversary of His Birth’ / The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.
This was a one-day event consisting of documentary movies and a talk show. A large number of people gathered at Omotesando Hills to participate.
One-day film festival ‘Roll Over TARO!’
Shigesato Itoi during his talk.