paintings

TOMOMIKUNISHIGE (JAPANESE 1978-  )

Born in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan, Tomomi Kunishige began learning calligraphy at the age of 6.   When she graduated from high school, she told her parents she wanted to become an artist. She had acquired her first class teaching license in calligraphy.  Her father wanted her to become a teacher.  She then made a deal with her father.  She asked him for only three years to prove her worth as an artist.  If at the end of three years she did not sell a painting, she would become a teacher as her father wished.  At the age of 18, Tomomi moved out of her parents house and began painting in the streets of Osaka as a performance artist across the street from Hankyu Department Store.  At the age of 20 she created her first eikanji : truth+真実 and began her first activity in 2003 as an Eikanji Artist. 

By this time, she decided it was time to ask the curator of the art gallery at Hankyu Department Store if he would do an exhibition of her works.  He had seen her often in the streets performing her art and agreed to give her a one woman show.  And the rest became history.  Tomomi's first show was a sell out sensation.  Since then every show she has had has sold out, usually before opening night!

The term Eikanji ® is a portmanteau derived from the Japanese words eigo, meaning English, and kanji, which is the term for the ideographic characters used in written Japanese. Moreover, the term is a play on "ee kanji" —a popular phrase in the Kansai dialect meaning literally, "a good feeling."

Eikanji is a form of calligraphic art created by Tomomi Kunishige in which each work is simultaneously comprised of both written English and Japanese, both depicting the same meaning. When viewed from left to right and top to bottom, in the order of the kanji’s strokes, letters of the alphabet can also be seen, spelling out the meaning of the character or phrase in English.

"With a single character, people from different countries and different languages can experience the same word in the same way. It is my hope that in doing so, they may both experience it as a thing of beauty as well."

Tomomi Kunishige's Ee-Kanji performance 
at Christian Dior in Tokyo

Personal Exhibitions
2003 Osaka Tennoji Lucias
2004 Hankyu Department Store Umeda main branch
America San Francisco canvas
2005Hankyu Department Store Umeda main branch 
Kyoto Imadegawa Gallery
Kobe Daimaru
  2006 Yamaguchi Chimakiya（Present Izutsuya
2007 Isetan Shinjuku store 
Umeda Daimaru2008Isetan Shinjuku store 
Hakata Daimaru2010Isetan Shinjuku store
2011 Yamaguchi Izutsuya 
JR Osaka Mitsukoshi Isetan

Calligraphy Performance
2007  Dior New Work Announcement Event @Zojoji
2009  DyDo DRINCO TV-CM @Yushima Seido
2010 Akiyoshidai Kokutei Koen 
*[Calligraphy Reggae]performance
(Collaboration with musicians Live Performance)
Traditional Artwork Festival
(Yamaguchi Prefecture Hagi City)
2011 intel New Work Announcement Event 
Yamaguchi Prefecture Mine City Fireworks Event 
*[Calligraphy Reggae]performance 
GOLDWIN 60th Anniversary Event 
*[Calligraphy Reggae]performance 

Lecture Presentation
2005  Yamaguchi Prefecture 
Yanai Commerce and Industry Senior High School2008Yamaguchi Prefecture Alma Mater OG event
2011 Yamaguchi Prefecture Mine City

2005Yamaguchi Prefecture Saikyo Bank 2006 Calendar2007PANG [Kizuna feat.MEGARYU]
Single CD Jacket
PANG [PANG III -Kizuna-]Album Jacke
t2010  Toho Movies [Darling is a foreigner]
2011 PANG [thank you] Single CD Jacket, Lyrics
【CM Appearance】
2009DyDo DRINCO [Blend coffee & Demitasse coffee]
2012  DAIHATSU [Future race] 
*Broadcasted only in Yamaguchi Prefecture