JoJo's Creator Hirohiko Araki Designs Curtains for Kyushu's Largest Kabuki Theater
Hirohiko Araki, the legendary manga artist who has won millions of fans worldwide with the series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, has once again met with traditional Japanese theater kabuki. Araki designed two special curtains for Hakataza Theater, the largest kabuki venue in the Kyushu region. These curtains were prepared to celebrate the name-taking (shūmei) ceremony of two important kabuki actors.
The curtains combine Araki's unique ink painting (sumi-e) techniques and the dynamic drawing style of JoJo. The designs feature traditional Japanese motifs – crane, tiger, and cherry blossoms – alongside Araki's signature sharp lines and vibrant color palette. This is not Araki's first step into the kabuki world; he designed an Ichimatsu curtain for Tokyo's famous Kabuki-za theater in 2018, and even prepared costumes and posters for the kabuki play "Sannin Kichiza" in 2021.
Hakataza, located in the heart of Kyushu in Fukuoka, is the largest kabuki venue in the region with over 800 seats. This year's name-taking ceremony takes place as new generation representatives of venerable families such as Nakamura Shichinosuke and Nakamura Kichiemon adopt their stage names. Araki's curtains, as a visual symbol of these ceremonies, attract the interest of both theater lovers and manga fans.
This collaboration shows that the boundaries between Japanese popular culture and traditional art are becoming increasingly blurred. The JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series has published over 100 volumes since 1987 and has been adapted into many media such as anime, film, and video games. Araki's unique touch on a centuries-old stage art like kabuki is seen as a harbinger of a new era in the meeting of the two cultures. The curtains will be permanently displayed at Hakataza after the ceremonies, offering visitors a unique visual experience.
