About Totoblue

Karakami art piece / Blue Art by Toto Akihiko
Toto Blue
Karakami artist Toto Akihiko (Karakami-shi)

The Blue of a Holy Prayer

A blue work of art consecrated as a prayer for world peace
With a history and tradition of over 1,000 years behind him, karakami artist Toto Akihiko has taken his discipline into the uncharted territory of art. In 2008, Akihiko presented karakami as art for the first time in its history. Since then, he has continued walking the untrodden path.
Combining the Western technique of pointillism with the Eastern technique of tarashikomi, he has developed his own original technique of “shifukuzuri printing,” where he uses his fingers to color the paper thousands or even tens of thousands of times. The deep blue karakami works created by this technique are born from the idea that all things in the natural world can attain enlightenment. Filled with the poetic sentiment created in concert with all the gods and spirits and beloved as the spiritual “totoblue,” it is also called “blue art,” while its creator is the “blue artist.”