'Kokuho' GKIDS Naomi Hibino says her initial response was to "go numb" upon learning that she and her fellow hair and makeup artists had been nominated for an Oscar for their work on Kokuho, Japan's breakthrough period drama. Hibino had spent the past 30 years working in the quiet, cloistered world of traditional Japanese dance, studying and practicing as a kaoshi, or traditional Japanese stage makeup artist. Kokuho was her very first film, and the prospect of attending the Academy Awards astonished and baffled her.