Hello.

Storytelling. Playing. Simplicity.
Nekaa Lab is an eternal playground for the curious mind. Observing humanity from the alternative perspective, we create sound, performance and original artworks.

Who is Sachiyo Takahashi?

Sachiyo is an artist, composer, and performer. 

Coming from a broad background in music — from Classical to traditional Japanese music to Electroacoustic — Sachiyo's work centers around storytelling accompanied by finely crafted audio that is integrated with other sensory elements. She explores the border between narrative and abstraction in a minimalist manner to generate fables for the subconscious.

Sachiyo founded Nekaa Lab in 2006 together with other "lab members" (stuffed toys and tiny figurines). She has been producing performances, installations and writings while observing human nature from alternative perspectives.  Sachiyo's Microscopic Live Cinema-Theatre — unique performances projected from a miniature stage — has been appraised as a quirky yet imaginative merging between theatrical and cinematic experiences.

Sachiyo also performs Okamoto school Shinnai-bushi, a traditional sung-storytelling from Japan as Miya Okamoto.

Besides creation, Sachiyo also gives lectures and workshops presenting her unique approach to audio-visual creation, focusing on auditory imagination. 

Sachiyo currently lives in Brooklyn yet sometimes can be seen strolling the back alleys of Japan, where she is originated.

What is Nekaa?

The name “Nekaa Lab”
was inspired by the Japanese children’s story “The Gluttonous Robots” (1967) by Taruhi Furuta.
In this story, a girl named Furuta Akane (fu-ru-ta-a-ka-ne)
turns into an imaginary character “Nekaa Tarufu (ne-ka-a-ta-ru-fu)”
after reading her name in the opposite direction.
As Nekaa Tarufu, she has adventures in the world of her imagination.