Committed to the international communication of art and design
Tanabe Chikuunsai IV was born Tanabe Takeo in Sakai, Osaka in 1973, the second son of Chikuunsai III. Growing up, he had a close affinity with bamboo and was determined to follow the path of bamboo crafting. After graduating from Kogei High School in Osaka, he went on to study sculpture at Tokyo University of the Arts. During this period, he learned bamboo sculpting using black bamboo. After college, he studied the fundamentals of bamboo weaving at the Bamboo Craft Training Center in Ōita-shi for two years. He then returned home to Sakai, Osaka, to become an apprentice to his own father, Tanabe Chikuunsai III. In 2001, Tanabe Chikuunsai IV was invited to exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art where all his works were sold. His works went on to be exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Seattle Art Museum, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the British Museum and Musée Guimet, with many of his works being purchased. In 2012, the Japanese National Policy Unit of the Cabinet Secretariat commended him for being a global advocate for the project Japan for the Japanese. He was dispatched by the Japanese government to promote bamboo art in places such as the Musée des arts Décoratifs in Paris and the Art and Design Museum in New York. In 2017, he succeeded the name Tanabe Chikuunsai IV and held exhibitions to celebrate this event in multiple locations including Japan, the USA and France.
