My view on starting a new business
Since childhood, my father privately trained me in Noh chanting and during my university days I continued my Noh study with a Noh theater group. Even after joining a business firm, I never gave up studying the Noh play, which means that I have now dedicated nearly 40 years to it.
When turning 50, I considered the possibility of transforming the store of my professional knowledge and personal relationships built up over my business career, and put both to practical use. For this reason I left my job at 50, before retirement age, to found a company whose business is specializing in producing Noh plays.
As the Kabuki and Takarazuka troupes have promotion companies, so too should there be one specializing in promoting and producing the Noh play. I believe all artists, including Noh actors, require a well-organized environment in order to concentrate on their creative performance. In fact, there is an ongoing need for a coordinator to negotiate between performers and clients (the audience).
Noh has now existed for about 700 years since the Muromachi era. My mission in life is to convey the essence of Noh to potential audiences as well as inspire as many talented Noh actors as possible.
And through the experience of Noh, it is to evoke the strong spirit that the Japanese tend to forget.
Thanks to many trusted supporters, I have started my company, and so now am going to devote the rest of life to this new business.
KII Noriko, representative Director, Shinka Co., Ltd.
Profile of the Representative Director
KII Noriko; Shite (protagonist) & Master, Hosho School of Noh Theater
- Chair, the Ginpo-kai run by IMAI Yasuyuki
- Member, the Nohgaku Performers’ Association (a public-interest incorporated association)
- Associate Member, the Association of Hosho School (a public-interest incorporated association)
- Chuden (middle grade), Ko School of Kotsuzumi (small hand drum) for Noh theater
- Jokyu (higher rank), the Urasenka School of Tea Ceremony
Personal history
- 1981
- Became a pupil of Imai Yasuyuki, shite actor of Hosho School of Noh play
- 1985
- Graduated from Jissen Women’s University, majored in Japanese literature (Concentration on Noh theater in the Middle Ages)
- 2003
- Studied Kotsuzumi (small hand drum) under mentor Ko Shingo of Ko School
- 2014
- Played shite in Noh entitled “Kakitsubata (Irises)”
- 2018
- Chair, the Ginpo-kai, run by Imai Yasuyuki
Business career
- 1985
- Assistant manager of sales department. Later promoted to manager of product & planning department and then to project leader of cultural events & business at Toppan Forms Co., Ltd.(formerly Toppan Moore Business Forms Co., Ltd.)
- 2018
- Resigned Toppan Forms, founded Shinka Co., Ltd., age of 55
- 2019
- Completed the program for developing workshop designers at School of Social Informatics at Aoyama Gakuin University (the 30th class)
Company information
| Corporate name | Shinka Co., Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Representative Director | Kii Noriko |
| Date of foundation | December 3, 2018 |
| Corporate head office | 3-6-1 Hatanodai, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 142-0064 |
| Contact | Telephone:090-4703-6989 (Cell) Facsimile：03-3785-2288 Contact us >> |