A living voice for the world of silent film
Born in Kumamoto in 2000, Takatora Oda is one of Japan’s youngest and most exciting benshi performers — practitioners of the traditional Japanese art of live silent-film narration known as katsuben. Inspired by the performances of legendary benshi Midori Sawato, Oda entered the world of silent cinema storytelling while still a university student, making his professional debut in 2021 at the long-running Musei Eiga Kanshokai silent film screenings in Tokyo.
Since then, he has appeared at the National Film Archive of Japan’s “Children’s Cinema” program while also actively organizing benshi performances throughout Kyushu. A disciple of Midori Sawato, Oda represents a new generation carrying forward one of Japan’s most distinctive performing arts traditions.
In the era before films had synchronized sound, benshi performers stood beside the screen, narrating scenes, voicing characters, and guiding audiences through silent cinema with live expression and emotion. Once numbering over 7,000 across Japan, only a small number of benshi remain today.
Blending cinema, theatre, storytelling, and live performance, katsuben is both an old and surprisingly modern art form. Through voice, rhythm, and imagination, Takatora Oda invites audiences to rediscover silent film as a vivid shared experience.