略歴 Kizan Kakinuma is a Japanese calligrapher/Artist, originally he started his career as a graffiti artist. He has based his activities in both Japan and Australia over the past two years.
When he was 20 he left Japan twice to discover and explore new places, once to the US and then to Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Austraila. These experiences changed his mind set and he took them as a welcome culture shock. Also they made him realize his Japanese identity, so he embarked to learn his own culture. With the skills he learned from graffiti, he decided to take on calligraphy.
In 2003 he entered into a advanced calligraphy school and studied the history, philosophy and art of calligraphy. At that time, his talent bloomed especially in Seal script which is an ancient Chinese written character.
In 2004 he won a Special Award of The Japan Society of Calligraphic Education which is one of the Japans most prestigious calligraphy awards and also acquired a teaching certificate in traditional and kanji calligraphy.
Since then he has displayed exhibitions in Tokyo, Osaka, Kumamoto Kyoto, Fukuoka and Australia, as well as producing mural art for shops, designed for skateboard label, T-shirts and more.
In recent years, his works of art have been highly regarded by many types of artists such as DJs, rapper, composer, surfer, graffiti artist, tattoo artist and skaters.