Tarō Okamoto

Osaka was the the site of Expo ’70, and among the most memorable elements of the event, standing to this day, is the "Tower of the Sun", a 70-metre-tall sculpture/building envisioned and designed by renowned artist Taro Okamoto, who some call “the Japanese Picasso”. This film is a theatrical adaptation of "TAROMAN", a tokusatsu series re-envisioning Okamoto's most famous pieces as surrealist superheroes and villains, with Ultraman-like TAROMAN, based on the Tower itself, at the forefront of it all.

Shokichi, the owner of the clothing store, lives with his daughter Hideko and plans to open an art gallery. One day, Hideko led a handsome art student, Shohei and a poor painter, Sohei. Sohei’s painting was praised by a great printer at the completion ceremony of the art gallery. Since he became successful as a painter, but he looked quite indifferent. Around the same time, Shohei’s sister brought Sohei’s pictures to the gallery and Shokichi noticed that she was a daughter of his first love.

Tarō Okamoto became world-famous by designing the “Tower of the Sun” at Expo ’70 in Osaka. The ideas and problems that came with its creation, however, are intertwined with the evolution of Japanese culture – from the Paleolithic up until modern times. In his documentary debut, director Kōsai Sekine takes us on a philosophical journey that transcends the visual limits of documentaries.

Taro Okamoto (1911-1996), one of Japan's most famous artists, traveled to Okinawa in 1959 and 1966. The reason for these trips was his journey to rediscover Japan, in search of his identity as a Japanese person. More than 60 years ago, Okamoto captured the "poignant tenderness of life" of the people, and concluded: "It is in Okinawa that we can find the lost. In Okinawa, I rediscovered myself for the first time." This documentary goes on a journey through Okinawa led by Okamoto himself, 50 years after Okinawa's reversion to Japan.