Issey Ogata

Born 1952 in Fukuoka, grown up in Tokyo. Keeps portraying contemporary Japan in one-man theatre performances. Starting from 1980s he becomes very popular with his One-man-shows - a unique form of entertainment, his interpretations of hundreds of different personalities using simple stage settings and a minimum of make-up and costumes are popular around the world, and shows are regularly on the programs in Tokyo, London, Munich, and other places. His activities also as a genre-crossing writer have earned him a nomination for the Izumi Kyoka Literature Prize for his novel «Toriaezu no koi» (Asahi Shimbunsha).