Min Tanaka

Min Tanaka (Tanaka Min, born March 10, 1945) is a renowned Japanese dancer and actor. Born in Tokyo, Japan, Tanaka's early career was rooted in ballet and modern dance. However, by 1974, he broke from these forms and embarked on an extraordinary solo career. His performances consisted of mostly nude, outdoor improvisational dances conducted throughout Japan, sometimes performing up to five times a day. Despite being associated with Hijikata Tatsumi and the butoh dance genre during the 1980s, Tanaka eventually severed this connection and no longer identifies his dances within that framework. Between 1986 and 2010, Tanaka organized dance workshops premised on Body Weather, a dance philosophy that conceives the body as a natural force, highly responsive to external stimuli, anti-hierarchical, and omni-centered. In 1985, Tanaka and his colleagues established the Body Weather Farm, located four hours west of Tokyo. Here, summer sessions lasting four to five weeks were taught in both Japanese and English. A large portion of the training centered on everyday tasks, primarily agricultural, with the belief that these situated tasks functioned as a dance student's instructor, thereby challenging the perceived subordination of environment to technique. Recognized for his contribution to the Arts, Tanaka was awarded the Chevalier of l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government between 1989 and 1990. Ever the experimenter, Tanaka continues to explore new ways to engage his body in his performances, drawing inspiration from his life in farming. By 2002, he also began to assert his presence in films and television, scoring the award for best supporting actor at the 26th Japan Academy Film Prize for The Twilight Samurai.