An Otsuzumi performer of the Noh musical accompaniment in the Okura Style
Collectively Recognised Holder of the Intangible Cultural Property

 He is the eldest son of the late Chojuro Okura who was the 15th originator of the Okura Style. (The Okura family has lasted for 650 years since Muromachi Era as one of the Noh musical accompaniment families in the field of Otsuzumi and Kotsuzumi (Big Hand Drum and Small Hand Drum.) Since then, with the big hand drum, which is a Japanese traditional percussion instrument, he has tried to convey traditional Japanese culture and seek after its greater possibilities.
 He has driven forward energetically to achieve this through his performances on the Noh stages, productions of Takigi Noh (night-time outdoor Noh performance) and other types of performances, as well as in live performances with both foreign and Japanese artists. He is not only an artist but a missionary who sends out the wonderfulness of Japanese culture to the world. Shonosuke Okura has also established his position in the field as a solo musician, performed at the Last Millennium Christmas Concert in the Vatican Palace Concert Hall in December 2000, preformed on ORIBE exhibition in NY at NY Metropolitan Museum in October 2003, and also performed on Tokyo Night of World Economic Meeting in Davos Switzerland in January 2004. And he has played his solo big hand drum performances in many other ceremonies and events all over the world. He sticks to the way to hit a drum with palms, which is regarded as the most difficult way in this field, and his style blending his body with his drum is highly acclaimed not only in Japan, but also in many other countries. The Japan Team used his music for the Synchronized Swimming of the Olympic Game, in Atlanta. He appeared in various CM, radio program and he has been widely introduced on TV, magazines, newspapers and so on, domestically and internationally.