Hiroto Rakusho
Hiroto Rakusho is a foil craftsman and foil artist born in 1962 in Nishijin, Kyoto, Japan.
He inherited the family business from his father, a foil craftsman, and worked as a traditional foil craftsman for Kyoto Nishijin textiles until the age of 40,Since the age of 40, he has been exhibiting his works as a foil artist in New York, Paris, London, Kuwait, and other places around the world with a desire to share Japanese traditional techniques with the world.
He has also attracted attention in Japan, where his works have been used as symbols for corporations and hotels, and his works have been featured in movies, television, and magazines.
This chocolate is the world's first chocolate product to sublimate the traditional technique of Kyoto into an art form. The art part is made by applying a traditional technique called "rubbing foil technique" to edible gold leaves from Kanazawa, and rubbing them in layers to make the pattern appear.
The silverware for the outer container was made by Kiyoshi Matsuda, the eighth generation of Kazariya, a restorer of shrines and temples in Kyoto and other places, including the Kyoto State Guest House. The chocolate is made by chocolatier Kazuo Noguchi, who is in charge of various domestic and international chocolate brands based on the philosophy of "enriching people's lives through chocolate". The circle pattern is based on the image of Japanese aesthetics and the harmony of peace.
The artwork is designed to be enjoyed with all five senses: looking at the gold leaves artwork with the eyes, smelling the aroma of chocolate, enjoying the sound by breaking the piece, and finally, enjoying it with the tongue. This is the world's first art chocolate that brings together the best of each region of Japan.
Since the Heian period, Kyoto's "Nishijin" area has been famous as a production center of high quality silk fabrics, with many craftsmen producing kimonos and obis.
Hiroto Rakusho's father, Jisaku Nishikawa, was a foil craftsman who applied gold leaf stretched 0.1 micron thick on persimmon tannin or Japanese paper, cut it into thin lines, and combined it with silk to create the beautiful patterns on obis.
Chocolatier Kazuo Noguchi works in Ryogoku, Tokyo, the birthplace of the first chocolate made in Japan. In this place, you can taste various flavors from all over Japan, produced using the finest Japanese chocolate as a base, cherry blossoms from Odawara, soybean flour from Kyoto, and charcoal produced in Japan.
The silverware on the outside is a combination of Japanese ebony and smoothly beaten silver using the finest techniques by Kiyoshi Matsuda, the 8th generation Kazariya, who has over 200 years of history in Kyoto and has restored the Kyoto State Guest House as well as shrines and temples in Japan.
2023 Solo exhibition "Gekko Raisan - The Moon Shining on Mt. Gekirin and the Radiance of the Universe" at Sennyuji Temple, Kyoto
2023 Exhibited works at ARTart KYOTO @ Nijo Castle, Kyoto
2023 Exhibition at MGM Cotai Theatre, Macau
2022 Exhibition at National Gallery Singapore The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium & Foyer
2022 Appearance in the movie "HELL DOGS"
2022 "Seeing the Moon, Seeing from the Moon" at Art Fair Tokyo
2021 Provided arts for the movie "Burning Sword"
2021 Hiroto Rakusho Exhibition "Seeing the Moon" at ARTGLORIEUX GALLERY
2020 Hiroto Rakusho Exhibition "Blue World" @GINZASIX ARTGLORIEUX GALLERY
2020 Memory of the Moon - Foil + Art World @ The Okura Tokyo MAYU GALLERY
2019 "Mu" @ ART FAIR TOKYO Exhibit
2018 Provided arts for the movie "The Prosecution"
2017 '○△□ As It Is' @ Art Fair Tokyo Exhibited
2016 Produced 'Le Rouge Kyoto Edition' with GIVENCHY
2015 Solo exhibition "Golden Renaissance" in Kuwait
2011 "GOLD LEAF KYOTO COLLECTION" at Bergdorf Goodman, NY
Exhibited at Shanghai Expo 2010
2009 Chado Ralph Rucci New York Collection Spring
2008 Exhibited at Salone del Mobile, Milano, Italy
2006 Exhibited at Art Expo New York
2006 Produced a high-resolution facsimile of the National Treasure "The Wind and Thunder Gods" by Sotatsu Tawaraya, and dedicated it to Kenninji Temple.
2006 Exhibited at Art Expo New York.
2004 Presented the foil textile "Moonlight" to the Mayor of Paris.
2004 Cosmic Web, Textiles of the Universe, Museo Nazionale d'Arte degli Studi di Roma, Greece