is a Japanese playwright, director, actor, and filmmaker.

Career

Born in Niihama, Ehime, Kōkami was attending Waseda University when he founded the theatrical company Daisanbutai (Third Stage). Becoming "one of the prime movers in the 1980s small-scale youth theater movement in Japan", he won the Kunio Kishida Award in 1995 for his play ''Sunafukin no tegami''. Earning a fellowship from the

Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The ag ...

in 1997, he spent a year in London, and has since presented such plays as ''Trance'' on the London stage. The play ''Halcyon Days'', which he wrote about suicide websites in Japan, has also been presented in Great Britain. In 2010 he won the 61st Yomiuri Prize for Drama. Kōkami has also directed and acted in several films including Renai Gikyoku: Watashi to koi ni ochitekudasai.

Cool Japan

Cool Japan is a program regularly airing on NHK World-Japan., which attempts to explores the charm and secrets of cool Japanese culture by making full use of the sensibilities of foreigners who live and work in Japan. Each episode is usually co-hosted by Shôji Kôkami and

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and consists of 8 foreign panelists and a Japanese commentator who is an expert in the episode's subject. Although some "special" episodes have had large groups (30+) of returning guests. The program is unique in that it features Japanese and English language and subtitles, as the foreign guests always speak in English, regardless of their native language or fluency in Japanese. Marty Friedman, the guitarist for

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, has also appeared as the expert (for music) commentator several times, as he has been a resident of

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

for many years

References

External links

Third Stage official website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kokami, Shoji Japanese theatre directors Japanese dramatists and playwrights Japanese film directors People from Ehime Prefecture 1958 births Living people Actors from Ehime Prefecture Yomiuri Prize winners