Born in Yokohama in 1961, Kisho Tokutomi's movie career started early in junior high school when he began producing movies for school festivals and "four walling" them. By 1982 he was working in a video production company. From then on, for 15 years, he made his mark directing PR movies and also TV dramas. Today he is one of the most original producers in his field.

The secret to Kisho's success with video productions and movies field was always his "artist's eye" -- his superb visual and artistic sensibility.

　Little wonder then that in 1994 he progressed to painting, inspired by the works of the surrealist, Max Walter Svanberg as well as Japanese traditions. He began exhibiting his work in 1995 at exhibitions hold at city galleries in Yokohama, and later, Kamakura. In the year 2000 he held his own exhibition at "C'est Rare" in Tokyo's trendy Harajuku district. More private exhibitions followed in the prestigious Ginza area. In 2005 and 2006, his works were on display at three exhibitions in Australia. Kisho had gone international.

　This is arguably the most distinctive aspect of Kisho's works as a Japanese artist -- they are international to the extent that they draw on European surrealism, yet also uniquely Japanese since they make extensive use of Japanese traditional art, especially ukiyo-e. With Kisho, East and West come together in imaginative explorations of the human spirit and the universe beyond.

　When I was in elementary school, I loved reading picture books, especially books about natural things -- plants, insects, and fish. I tried to imitate illustrations with crayons. In junior high school, I had a telescope. I looked at the planets and the stars. I was fascinated by the mystery of the universe. It was miraculous -- and I began to believe in miracles. Looking through microscopes, I could see another kind of universe, too, populated by tiny strange creatures. Here I could see the life force at work.

　I believe every living thing has value. Animals, plants, human beings -- we all have the same home -- the Earth. So in this sense, we are not "superior" to other living things -- even to insects. We all come from the same place. We all depend on each other. My art seeks to express the underlying life force that animates us all -- that makes animals, plants and people one.

　I know an animal hospital which has been rescuing abandoned animals, giving them medical treatment, and trying to find them foster homes. This hospital is supported by the Kanagawa SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). The staff people are working very hard and they have been making a big difference -- but the hospital does not have enough money to really provide for the animals as it wants to. There are simply so many feral cats in need of help -- and 30 year old cat shelter is in desperate need of renovation. Since the hospital doesn't have the financial resources it needs, I am donating a part of income from my artworks to help it and the Kanagawa SPCA.