Mansai Nomura leads stellar creative line-up for Tokyo 2020 Ceremonies

 Japanese actor Mansai Nomura has been appointed the Chief Executive Creative Director of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Nomura is a household name in Japan, best known for his performances in kyogen, a traditional form of comedic theatre.

The 52-year-old has also played more contemporary leading roles, such as Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Nomura’s main role will be to ensure the overall theme of the Tokyo 2020 games is fully integrated and portrayed in the shows.

Mansai Nomura and his stellar creative line-up

Nomura won’t be alone in shouldering the prestigious challenge of producing all four shows.

Award-winning movie director Takashi Yamazaki has been appointed the Executive Creative Director.

As an industry leader in special effects and computer-generated visuals, onlookers can expect a show packed full of cutting-edge technology.

Advertising creative Hiroshi Sasaki was also named the Executive Creative Director.

Sasaki played the role of Creative Supervisor at the Rio 2016 Closing Ceremony handover, meaning he was partly responsible for the brilliant moment Japanese Prime Minister Shinze Abe appeared dressed as Nintendo’s Mario!

Movie producer and writer Genki Kawamura, creative producer Yoshie Kurisu, singer-songwriter Sheena Ringo, creative technologist Kaoru Sugano and choreographer MIKIKO have also been appointed as additional Creative Directors.

Continuing a new tradition

Tokyo 2020 will follow in the footsteps of the previous three Summer Olympics in appointing figures from the film industry to run the shows.

At Beijing 2008 Zhang Yimou used 15,000 performers in an opening ceremony at the Bird’s Nest stadium that paid homage to ancient Chinese culture.

Four years later in London, Academy Award-winning film director Danny Boyle put on a show that featured the Queen, the Spice Girls, Mr. Bean and David Beckham among others.

And at Rio 2016 City of God director Fernando Meirelles, alongside Daniela Thomas and Andrucha Waddington, evoked the spirit of music and samba.