68-year-old actor Nobuko Akino appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) broadcast on May 19th. She spoke about her painting, which she started at the age of 50, and her experience fighting cancer, and how she is giving back to society through her creative work.
He started painting when he was 50 years old. Three years ago, he went into remission from stage 3 esophageal cancer, but to express his gratitude to the medical professionals and other people who had taken care of him, he held a solo exhibition of the paintings he had been working on. He donated the money he earned from the exhibition to cancer research and other cancer-related fields, which he said made people very happy.
Although her paintings are primarily made with acrylic, she also makes works using glass and plaster. Kuroyanagi praised her various works that she showed in the studio, saying, "You're really good at this," and "They're wonderful."
Akino says, "Challenging new things, or rather, going into a new world, enriches your life." "I basically love doing little things," she says, adding that she also likes sewing and knitting.
"As you get older, you start to think about all sorts of things, thinking maybe you can't do them anymore, and you start to withdraw, don't you? But when you try new things, you meet people you've never met before and make new connections," he said, and when he holds a solo exhibition, cancer survivors, current cancer fighters, and their families come and say things like, "It gives me energy," and "It gives me courage." He said he creates with the hope that he can be of use to them.
