A Colourful Heart : Kageki Shimoda

Today while checking out my twitter follower suggestions, 

a rather colourful avatar caught my eye. 

It was an elderly Japanese man with very colourful hair 

and right away my interest was peaked! 

Further research led me to find out it was a 

children's picture book author by the name of Kageki Shimoda.

Pictures from his Twitter feed shows a photograph with a group of children he has made happy with his storytelling!

  His regular dress has often been called eccentric but it's wonderful 

to see someone who has lived out their art dream fully and continues to do so.

“When you have a multicolored head, you have a multicolored heart. It’s fun.”

73-year-old Kageki Shimoda is a children’s picture book author and storyteller. The energy of his picture books are reflected in his daily fashion. He does readings at children’s schools in addition to painting and authoring picture books.

"Born in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1940. Had more than 20 jobs, such as a magazine writer, since graduating from Faculty of Law, Chuo University. Debuted as an author by winning the Shosetsu Gendai Prize for New Writers in 1976 for Yattoko Tantei (The Plier Detective). Won the Naoki Prize in 1980 with Kiiroi Kiba (Yellow Fang). Since then he has gained popularity for a diverse range of works in every genre. Active as a TV celebrity since the 1990’s, he has taken the world by storm for his character and outrageous fashion. In 1999 he formed the Storytelling Team for Good Kids. Since then he spends most his time on storytelling tours, with more than 1400 performances to date. His interests are walking and extreme (Kageki) fashion. He is also Tourism Ambassador for his home prefecture of Shizuoka. His latest works are Date Masamune Saigo no Yabo (Munemasa Date – The Final Ambition) (Kodansha), and Kita Chosen Daihokai!! Jo / Gekan (The Collapse of North Korea!! Volumes 1&2) (Cosmic Publishing). " 

An excerpt from an article on Chuo Online about the wonderful Kageki Shimoda :

" His life is overwhelmingly energetic and positive, but everyday isn’t this lively for Shimoda. There are also times when he feels lost, times when he has no enthusiasm, and times when he is afraid of dying. In those times, Shimoda looks up towards the toilet ceiling. Stuck to the ceiling are the words of his deceased father, gently reminding Shimoda of what he must do.

“Hey. Take it easy.”

 

He guides children’s hearts on a generous and relaxed path. In this life work that requires immediate action without rushing for results, Shimoda has probably turned to those words numerous times.

Finally, there is a secret to Shimoda, who could even be called “Grandpa”, being so energetic. Although born in 1940, Shimoda is actually a new 11 year old. “On March 25, 2000, in normal terms I reached 60 years of age, but at that time I was reborn as a new 0 year old,” he reveals.

This experienced new 11 year old with the flexible heart is 

currently growing even more free and extreme. "

Wow! He is such an inspiration! Any time you feel like you want to give up, any time you feel your heart grow heavy, remember how you have placed yourself gently on this earth. Remember you have dreams and aspirations and no matter what anyone does, you can live a wonderful life with a colourful heart. He is just one of the many people now which will continue to enrich and inspire my daily life. Keep on doing what you're doing Shimoda!

To read more about Kageki Shimoda please check at the full article about him on Chuo Online.

You can also visit his storytelling theatre website and follow him on twitter.