ABSTRACT
Oikawa Hironobu is a multidisciplinary artist with experiences in ballet, theater, and mime with whom Ohno Kazuo and Ohno Yoshito and Hijikata Tatsumi worked during the 1960s. In particular, Oikawa's mime teachings and perhaps more importantly his unique theories of Artaudian embodiment provide intriguing glimpses into little discussed physical influences that were circulating at the time butoh was being developed. After World War II, Oikawa began to study humanities, and enrolled in French courses at Gakushuin. There he studied with Miyake Noriyoshi, and one of the leading lights in Moliere research in Japan, Suzuki Rikie. In order to focus on his theater studies, Oikawa transferred to the Stage Arts School. There he studied with such luminaries as Murayama Tomoyoshi, Okakura Shiro, Hijikata Yoshi, Yamamoto Yasuhide, Ito Michio, and Akita Ujaku. In the end, the connection between Oikawa and butoh remains tentative but undeniable.
