Location
International House of Japan, Roppongi, Tokyo
Duration
18:00 – 20:30
About
An intimate presentation and reactive dialogue elaborating on concepts introduced on the 12th.

EEPMON was invited by Noh master, Naohiko Umewaka to deliver an exclusive presentation at the International House of Japan in Roppongi. The session provided a tailored platform to elaborate further on ideas previously introduced on October 12th, to engage in a focused, high-level discussion within an intimate setting.

About the International House of Japan
Established in 1952 in Roppongi, Tokyo, the International House of Japan (I-House) is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting international cultural exchange and intellectual cooperation. Founded with the support of prominent leaders including John D. Rockefeller 3rd and Shigeharu Matsumoto, it serves as a global landmark for fostering dialogue, policy research, and collaborative engagement among scholars, artists, and global thinkers.

Location
国立能楽堂 National Noh Theatre (Kokuritsu Nohgakudō), Tokyo, Japan
Date
Monday, October 12, 2026
Duration
16:05 – 16:30

Theme: “Yūgen, Emotion, and the Energy of Nothingness: Can AI Perform Without an Intention?”
Using Noh’s aesthetic of Yūgen—the subtle, unquantifiable presence that arises from physical performance—as an entry point, this interdisciplinary panel explores expression, emotion, and creativity in the age of artificial intelligence.

“What is not done is where the interest lies.”

Zeami Motokiyo (c. 1363–1443) also known as Kanze Motokiyo, was a preeminent Japanese aesthetician, actor, and playwright who is credited with perfecting and codifying Noh theater into its classical form.

This quote stayed with EEPMON through the whole panel while he sat with distinguished speakers to talk about yūgen in the age of AI.:

∙ Matthew J. Wilson, J.D. – President and Dean, Temple University Japan Campus
∙ Hideaki Koizumi, Ph.D. – Fellow, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo
∙ Ikuo Honma, Ph.D. – Professor Emeritus, Showa University School of Medicine
∙ Soraya Umewaka – Creative Entrepreneur and Moderator

Honma spoke of breath and stillness. In Noh, the heart is never shown outwardly. It comes through only when the body stops.

Koizumi spoke of time. AI runs on electrons at near light speed. The human nervous system runs at 100 metres per second. The gap is 2.5 million times. Humans will never catch up on speed, and that is exactly why humans can do what AI cannot.

Wilson spoke of judgment. AI hands out information regardless of truth. Schools must teach what is true, what crosses cultures, and what you learn by doing.

And EEPMON spoke of the cut. Digital is infinite. What EEPMON longs for is the tangible. EEPMON found Gutai during studies in Canada: the artist does not disturb matter, but imparts life into it. EEPMON’s piece was made to respect Noh and its essence. In Noh, every movement is precise and nothing is wasted. The simplest thing is the hardest to do. And where it gets interesting, in EEPMON’s medium and in Noh, is when you cut. When you stop. That is intuition, and only the human spirit defines it. Restraint around the tools is how humans stay human.

Special Performance:
A performance of Kiyotsune (Shimai Dance) by Naoto Umewaka.

At 16:40, following the round table discussion, Kiyotsune was presented as a shimai dance, performed by Umewaka Naotomo. Drawn from The Tale of the Heike, it tells of Taira no Kiyotsune, who drowns himself in despair after defeat in battle. In shimai form, the play is distilled to its dance, as his spirit reappears to his grieving wife to recount his tragic end and seek resolution. Brief and concentrated, it served as a quiet bridge between the discussion and the contemporary work that followed, returning the afternoon to the body, to movement, and to a spirit seeking rest.

Project Details
∙ Location: 国立能楽堂 National Noh Theatre (Kokuritsu Nohgakudō), Tokyo, Japan
∙ Date: Monday, October 12, 2026

Download the Program

Collaboration Overview

Ahead of the 2028 centennial anniversary of bilateral relations between Canada and Japan, digital artist EEPMON is collaborating with Noh Master Naohiko Umewaka by contributing his digital artistry for a special performance at the National Noh Theatre. The performance commemorates the 55th memorial anniversary of Noh Master, Naoyoshi Umewaka. Designed as an international cultural bridge, the initiative weaves together the traditions of classical Japanese theatre—recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity—with modern Canadian digital design, creating an artistic dialogue that connects historical heritage with the digital age.

Part I was the classical program, running from 12:30 to 15:40 as part of the 55th anniversary commemorative performance honouring Umewaka Naoyoshi I (1911-1972). It opened with a series of maibayashi dances, beginning with the celebratory Takasago, followed by Futari Shizuka, the waterfall dance version of Ataka performed by Umewaka Naohiko, Nomori, the vocal recitation of Kanjincho, and Toru performed by Umewaka Naoyoshi II. A set of shimai selections followed, featuring Yoroboshi, Ugetsu, and Tsuchigumo, grounding the afternoon in the precision and stillness of the classical repertoire.

After an intermission, Part I closed with the full Noh play Koi no Omoni (The Burden of Love), authored by Zeami (1363-1444). In it, an elderly groundskeeper falls in hopeless love with a high-ranking court lady, and is cruelly offered a chance to see her if he can carry a silk-wrapped burden around the garden, only to discover it conceals a crushing stone. Dying of exhaustion, his vengeful spirit returns to haunt the court. Umewaka Naohiko performed the shite role, with Kanze Atsuo as tsure, Fukuo Kazuyuki as waki, and Yamamoto Yasutaro in the kyogen role, bringing the classical program to a tragic and powerful close before the round table and contemporary work in Part II.

In addition to his creative contribution, EEPMON will participate in a special panel discussion titled, Yūgen, Emotion, and the Energy of Nothingness: Can AI Perform Without an Intention?. Yūgen (幽玄) is a traditional Japanese aesthetic concept that describes a profound, mysterious sense of beauty that is felt rather than explicitly seen.

The panel features distinguished speakers including:

∙ Matthew J. Wilson, J.D. – President and Dean, Temple University Japan Campus
∙ Hideaki Koizumi, Ph.D. – Fellow, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo
∙ Ikuo Honma, Ph.D. – Professor Emeritus, Showa University School of Medicine
∙ Eric Chan, a.k.a. EEPMON – Digital and Generative Artist, Creative Entrepreneur

Moderator: Soraya Umewaka

The round table discussion opened Part II at 16:05, under the theme “Yūgen, Emotion, and the Energy of Nothingness: Can AI Perform Without an Intention?” Facilitated by Umewaka Soraya, the panel brought together Matthew J. Wilson, President of Temple University Japan Campus, Hideaki Koizumi, Fellow of RCAST at the University of Tokyo, Ikuo Honma, Professor Emeritus at Showa University, and Eric Chan, known as EEPMON, as the practitioner voice. Using Noh’s aesthetic of yūgen, the subtle and unquantifiable presence that arises from physical performance, as its entry point, the discussion explored expression, emotion, and creativity in the age of artificial intelligence.

Each perspective opened a different door into the same question. Honma spoke of breath and stillness, and of Zeami’s teaching that what is not done is where the interest lies. Koizumi framed yūgen through time and space, contrasting the speed of AI with the slower pace of the human nervous system. Wilson argued that education must teach judgment, through real, global, and practical intelligence. EEPMON spoke as an artist working inside the tools, tracing the collaboration to his Prince Takamado Gallery show, and describing restraint as the cut: knowing when to stop, when nothing is wasted, and when a work made to respect Noh’s essence is complete.

Special Performance: A performance of Kiyotsune (Shimai Dance) by Naoto Umewaka.

At 16:40, following the round table discussion, Kiyotsune was presented as a shimai dance, performed by Umewaka Naotomo. Drawn from The Tale of the Heike, it tells of Taira no Kiyotsune, who drowns himself in despair after defeat in battle. In shimai form, the play is distilled to its dance, as his spirit reappears to his grieving wife to recount his tragic end and seek resolution. Brief and concentrated, it served as a quiet bridge between the discussion and the contemporary work that followed, returning the afternoon to the body, to movement, and to a spirit seeking rest.

Ryūgū Kozō (The Boy from the Dragon Palace) closed the afternoon at 16:45 as a contemporary Noh excerpt, directed by Umewaka Soraya and written by Umewaka Naohiko, in collaboration with EEPMON. Guided by a mysterious dream, a traveler journeys to the village of Kurumeki, where a local woman shares the legend of Ryūgū Kozō, a benevolent water spirit from the Dragon Palace who befriended the village but tragically perished. Moved to offer prayers at his grave, the traveler witnesses the boy’s radiant spirit emerge to perform a final spring dance before returning to the earth.

EEPMON’s contribution was a key element of that performance, not a projection. As EEPMON wrote on Instagram, Naohiko-san’s response to the work in progress of Mecha Ryūgū Kozō 001 XRAY A was, “This is very Noh.” The mask combined drawn elements and computer code, created generatively and rewritten and layered over and over again, until switching to x-ray mode left only the outlines. That version was made to form like a Hikimawashi cloth and a blanket, not computer projected as some would have thought.

Sitting with the audience, EEPMON was emotionally moved to see it on stage, in pure black and white, as the notion of Yūgen emerged. For him, it was a perpetual oscillation between outward infinity and inward infinity, between absorption and reflection, between the many layers of a work and the single outline that remains when everything else falls away.

Behind the scenes, EEPMON working on his digital noh masks.

Download the Program