Theatre Yearbook 2017
Theatre in Japan
Published in March, 2017
Japanese Centre of International Theatre Institute (ITI/UNESCO)
c/o Kokuritsu Nohgakudo (The National Noh Theatre)
4-18-1 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0051, JAPAN
Tel: +81-(0)3-3478-2189 / Fax: +81-(0)3-3478-7218
mail@iti-j.org / http://iti-japan.or.jp© Japanese Centre of International Theatre Institute 2017
All rights reserved. Requests for permission to reproduce material
from this work should be sent to the Japanese Centre of International Theatre Institute.

Commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs,
Government of Japan in the fiscal 2016
under the Human Resources Development Programme
for the Next Generation of Cultural Creators.
Editor-in-chief Tanokura Minoru
Director in charge Yoshiiwa Masaharu, Sota Shuji
Editor Nakajima Kana
Editorial Staff Iki Terumi, Goto Ayako, Sakaguchi Kaya,
Sakurai Yumiko, Sentoku Miho, Hayashi
Hideki, Hishinuma Yoshiaki, Monden Miwa
Translation William Andrews, Sumida Michiyo,Mark Oshima, James Ferner,
Alan Cummings, Sato Michiyo
Proofreading Tove Bjoerk
DTP Staff Nakamura Tomoko, Yamada Yasushi
Art Direction and Design Kubo Saori
Plate-making Yubido Co., Ltd.
Yamamura Printing Co., Ltd.
Printing Sankyosha Co., Ltd.
Binding Wincam Co., Ltd.
Printed in Japan

Foreword
The Japanese Centre of International Theatre Institute has become a public interest incorporated foundation and is a member of an international network comprised of National Centres
and professional organizations in approximately ninety countries and regions constituting
the International Theatre Institute (ITI), which is a non-governmental organization under theumbrella of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The preamble of the UNESCO Constitution begins with the famous phrase “since wars begin
in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed”.
In Article 3 of the standing rules of the Japanese Centre of International Theatre Institute, it
is stipulated that the purpose of the Centre is “to contribute to the development of culture andrealization of peace in Japan by deepening mutual understanding and facilitating the creations
and exchanges of theatre and dance based upon the purpose of the UNESCO Constitution”.
Theatre and dance are excellent media that enable us to take interest in one another andthink about man and society by sharing time and space together. Even in today’s society, where
the means of communication have developed and the volume and speed of distributing information have increased dramatically, the role of theatre and dance that help us gain multifaceted
and deep insights will not diminish.
The Japanese Centre has continued to publish the Theatre Yearbook since 1972. Startingfrom 1997, it has been published in two parts, namely ‘Theatre in Japan’ (English version) for
readers outside Japan and ‘Theatre Abroad’ (Japanese version) for domestic readers. From
2011, the Centre has been commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs to carry out
the publication project under the ‘Program for Nurturing Upcoming Artists Leading the
Next Generation’.
Furthermore, reading performances have been presented every year since 2009 to introduce
remarkable plays from around the world as part of the research and study activity to promoteinternational theatrical exchange. In 2016, the ‘Theatre Born in Conflict Zones’ series was
carried out for the eighth consecutive year and two new plays from Iran and Belgium weretranslated and introduced to Japan for the first time.
Thus the publication of the ‘Theatre Yearbook’ has laid a firm foundation for actual
activities to gain knowledge on the relationship between Japan and the world, to deepen mutual
understanding by positioning Japan within the global network, and to realize cultural development and peace.
We look forward to your continued support and cooperation to the activities of theJapanese Centre of ITI in the years to come.
March 27, 2017
In commemoration of the World Theatre Day

Nagai Taeko
President
Japanese Centre of International Theatre InstituteCONTENTS
005 Shots from the Performing Arts in Japan in 2016

The Japanese Performing Arts in Japan in 2016
038 Noh and Kyōgen Nishi Tetsuo
049 Kabuki and Bunraku Mizuochi Kiyoshi
059 Musicals Hagio Hitomi
067 Contemporary Theatre Yamaguchi Hiroko
076 Children’s and Youth Theatre and Puppet Theatre Yokomizo Yukiko
086 Japanese Classical Dance Hirano Hidetoshi
098 Ballet Urawa Makoto
107 Contemporary Dance and Butoh Tsutsumi Hiroshi
119 Television Dramas Kotaki Tetsuya

Developments in Japan and Overseas
134 100 Years of Russo-Japanese Cultural Exchanges in Ballet:
The First Ballet Performance at the Imperial Theatre in Japan / Kawashima Kyoko
143 Fujairah International Arts Festival Report / Sota Shuji
150 Bunraku: Recent Challenges & Developments / Kameoka Noriko
160 Ninagawa Yukio: From 1960s Theatre Artist to Global Star / Takahashi YutakaSpecial Feature
172 A Report on‘Theatre Born in Conflict Zones 8’ Theatre Standing Against The Time of Peril / Hayashi Hideki
184 Companion Volume “Theatre Abroad 2017” in Japanese
186 ITI Centres

Names are presented in the style of the person’s country of origin.
For Japanese names, the order is family name followed by given name.

日本の
舞台芸術
を見る

Shots from the Per forming Ar ts in Japan
in 2016

Noh and Kyōgen
Kagekiyo (General Kagekiyo)
2nd Ōtsuki Bunzō Yūichi no kai,Ōtsuki Bunzō© Moriguchi Mitsuru

Wakana (Wine, Women and Spring) Reconstructed Kyōgen, National Noh Theatre Regular Program, Yamamoto Yasutarō© National Noh TheatreŌmu Komachi (Komachi’s Parrot-Reply Poem) Kahō-kai, Nomura Shirō © Suzuki Kaoru

Noh and Kyōgen

Dai Dengaku Yorozu Kyōgen Special Program : The 13th Memorial Program for Manzō VIII, Nomura Man and others© Yorozu Kyōgen Company

Tenko (The Drum from Heaven) Memorial Program for Kanze Toyosumi/ Hōshō Kan/ Sowa Hiroshi at the 22nd Nohgaku-za
Jishukōen, Kanze Tetsunojō © Yoshikoshi Ken

Utsubo-Zaru (The Monkey Quiver) The name-taking ceremonial programs of Shigeyama Sensaku V and Shigeyama Sengorō
XIV, Shigeyama Sengorō XIV, Shigeyama-Kyōgen-kai © Uesugi Haruka

Noh and Kyōgen

Hōshō Kan Kagekiyo (General Kagekiyo)
on December 11th, 2015
Tessen-kai 90th Memorial Program of Noh© Yoshikoshi Ken

Ioriume (The Plum Blossom Hut)
The name-taking ceremonial programs of Shigeyama
Sensaku V and Shigeyama Sengorō XIV, Shigeyama
Sensaku V, Shigeyama-Kyōgen-kai© Uesugi Haruka

Kabuki

Kamakura Sandaiki(The Three Generations of Kamakura Shōguns)
Nakamura Kichiemon (left), Nakamura Jakuemon V (right)© Shochiku

Ichinotani Futaba Gunki Kumagai Jinya (Chronicle of theBattle of Ichinotani Kumagai’s Battle Camp)
Nakamura Shikan VIII © Shochiku

KabukiArashi no Yoru ni (One Stormy Night) Onoe Matsuya (left), Nakamura Shidō (right) © Shochiku

Koharu Nagi Okitsu Shiranami Kogitsune Reiza (The Magical Thief, Kogitsune Reiza) Onoe Kikunosuke (centre)© National Theatre

Genroku Chūshingura Ohama Goten Tsunatoyo Kyō (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers in the Genroku Era Lord Tokugawa
Tsunatoyo) Ichikawa Somegorō (left), Kataoka Nizaemon (right) © Shochiku

Kanadehon Chūshingura Yoichibei uchi Kanpei Harakiri no ba (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers Kanpei’s Suicide in Yoichibei’s House) Onoe Kikugorō (centre) and others © National TheatreBunraku

Imoseyama Onna Teikin (Mt. Imo and Mt. Se: An Exemplary Tale of Womanly Virtue)© National Bunraku Theatre cooperated with NPO Ningyo Joruri Bunrakuza Mutsumi-kai

Kotobuki Shiki Sanbasō (Long Live Sanbasō) © National Theatre cooperated with NPO Ningyo Joruri Bunrakuza Mutsumi-kai

Kanadehon Chūshingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers)© National Theatre cooperated with NPO Ningyo Joruri Bunrakuza Mutsumi-kai

Bunraku
Toyotake Shimatayū VIII on his Retirement Stage,
Sekitori Senryō Nobori(The Sumo Wrestler’s Banner)© National Theatre cooperated with NPO Ningyo
Joruri Bunrakuza Mutsumi-kai

Yoshida Bunjaku (1928 - 2016)
Hanakurabe Shiki no Kotobuki, Sekidera Komachi(The Celebration of the Four Seasons,
Komachi at The Sekidera Temple) on January, 2015
© National Bunraku Theatre
cooperated with NPO Ningyo Joruri Bunrakuza
Mutsumi-kai

Musicals

Kinky Boots Amuse, Inc.／Fuji Television Network, Inc.／Sunrise Promotion Tokyo, Inc. © Hikichi NobuhikoMusicals

The Bells of Notre Dame Shiki Theatre Company © Uehara Takashi

Jersey Boys 2016 © Toho Co., Ltd. Theatrical Division

For the People : Lincoln, the Man Who Sought Freedom Takarazuka Revue Company © Takarazuka RevueGrand Hotel Umeda Arts Theater © GEKKOContemporary Theatre

Sai-no-kuni Shakespeare Series #32 Measure for Measure Saitama Arts Foundation, HoriPro Inc © Watanabe Takahiro

The 10000 Gold Theater 2016 The Gold Symphony -my dream, your dream- Saitama Prefecture, Saitama Arts Foundation© Miyagawa Maiko

Cressida Cat Produce Co., Ltd. © Oka Chisato

Amahara Ishinha © Inoue Yoshikazu

Contemporary Theatre

Disgraced Pasona Group © Yano Tomomi

Gekirin (Imperial Wrath) NODA MAP © Shinoyama Kishin

The Husbund and Wife hi-bye © Aoki Tsukasa

Setagaya Public Theatre+KERA・MAP #007 Cinema and the Lover Setagaya Public Theatre © Midoh Yoshinori

Contemporary Theatre
Ninagawa Yukio (1935 - 2016)© Ninagawa Mika

Matsumoto Yūkichi (1946 - 2016)© Inoue Yoshikazu

Children’s and Youth Theatre and Puppet Theatre

Shinigami (The God of Death) Puppet Theatre PUK © Yoshikawa Yasushi

Children’s and Youth Theatre and Puppet Theatre

Chiisai ‘Tsu’ ga Kieta Hi (The Day All the Little ‘Tsu’s Disappeared) Gekidan Nakama © Hiyama Takashi (A・I Co., Ltd)

Yoake no Rakugo (The Dawning of Rakugo) Gekidan Urinko Theater Company © Oota Masahiro

Inochi no Matsuri (The Festival of Life) Theatre Tampopo © Yamazaki Kazuo

Japanese Classical Dance

Shibon Fujikage Seiju (right), Fujikage Shizuaki (left) © Okuda Shotaro

Yūko no kai Gen-ya (The Plain) Nishikawa Yūko © Video Photo Saito

Japanese Traditional Dance Troupe Kikunokai Performance in Sri Lanka © Kikunokai

Sonokisuke Create & Dance Osozakura Teniha no Nanamoji (Late Cherry Blossoms in Seven Letters)
Hanayagi Sonokisuke (left), Fujima Kanza (right) Office Taku © Ishikawa Masakatsu

BalletThe Little Mermaid Jinushi Kaoru Ballet Company © Obana Aoi

Asuka (Asuka Story) Asami Maki Ballet Tokyo © Shikama Takashi

Romeo and Juliet Matsuyama Ballet Company © Hiyama Takashi (A・I Co., Ltd)BalletLetter to His Father Tokihiko Sakamoto & Hisako Takabe Climb Rejoice Company © Tanioka Hidemasa (Staff Tes)

Cinderella Reiko Matsuoka Ballet Company © Murahashi KazuakiContemporary Dance and Butoh

Geigeki dance, Saburo Teshigawara×Yosuke Yamashita up Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre / KARAS © Abe Akihito

Dairakudakan Temptenshiki Paradise Dairakudakan © Kawashima Hiroyuki

Contemporary Dance and Butoh＊ASTERISK Goodbye, Snow White Tokyo Gegegay / Parco Co., Ltd © Kamiyama Yosuke

La Bayadère – Nation of Illusion Noism © Shinoyama Kishin

The World has Shrunk, and Only a Certain Fact Remains Nibroll © Miyawaki Shintaro

IKINONE (Breath of Life) Co.Yamada Un © Hatori Naoshi

Contemporary Dance and Butoh

GEAR Art Complex © Inoue Yoshikazu

Lung Ta (Wind Horse): Blow a Strong Wind
Performance Troupe TAIHEN© bozzo

日本の
舞台芸術
を知る
Th e J a p a n e s e Pe r fo r m i n g A r t s
i n 2016

ˉ GENNOH and KYO

Noh and Kyōgen
A Rich Variety of Noh Programs
Nishi Tetsuo
Awards received
In 2016, the shite (main role) performers Nomura Shirō andŌtsuki Bunzō were designated, ‘Preserver of Important Intangible
Cultural Properties - Individual Certification’ (National Living
Treasure). This brings the total of those who have been awarded thishonor to 43 persons, 11 of whom are currently living.
Nomura Shirō was born in 1936 and is a shite performer of the
038

Kanze School. He is the 4th son of the Kyōgen performer Nomura
Manzō 6th of the Izumi School. His first stage appearance was in
the Kyōgen play Utsubo-Zaru (The Monkey’s Quiver) in 1940. He
has since then successfully performed such great works as: Dōjōji
(The Serpent Demon at Dōjōji Temple), Sotoba Komachi (Komachi at
the Stupa), Higaki (The Woman of the Cypress Fence), Obasute (TheOld Woman on Obasute Mountain), Sekidera Komachi (Komachi
at Sekidera Temple) and others. Nomura Shir ō is a member ofthe Kanze-kai as well as the Tessen-kai, and he is also a Professor
Emeritus at Tokyo University of the Arts and President of the Japan
Nohgaku Society.

Ōtsuki Bunzō was born in 1942. He is a shite performer of the
Kanze School. The eldest son of shite performer Ōtsuki Hideo, his
first stage appearance was in 1947 in Kuramatengu (Yoshitsune’s
encounter with the Goblin of Kurama), in which he appeared as a
kokata (child performer). He has also successfully performed theworks Dōjōji, Sotoba Komachi, Higaki and Sekidera Komachi mentioned above. In addition, he is a member of the Ōtsuki Kanze-kai
and the Administrative Director at the Ōtsuki Sei-in Noh Theatre.
The Japan Art Academy Prize was awarded to shite performer
Takahashi Akira of the Hōshō School. He was born in 1934. The
eldest son of Takahashi Susumu, he received instruction from Hōshō
Kurō 17th, Hōshō Fusao, Kondo Kenzō as well as his father.
The Award of the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology to New Artists for the Encouragement of theArts was given to kotsuzumi (small shoulder drum) performer Narita
Tatsushi of the Kō School. He was born in 1964, and received instruction from Sowa Hiroshi and Sowa Masahiro.
The Grand Prize for Excellence at the Arts Festival of the
Agency for Cultural Affairs (Theatre Division) was awarded to039

Kyōgen performer Zenchiku Ryūhei of the Ōkura School.
The Hōsei University Nohgaku Award in Memory of Kanze
Hisao was presented to taiko (stick drum) performer Kotera Sashichiof the Kanze School and kotsuzumi performer Ōkura Genjirō of theŌkura School.
Kotera Sashichi was born in 1946. He was the eldest son of taiko
performer Kotera Shunzō, and received instruction from Kanze
Motonobu 16th.

Ōkura Genjirō was born in 1957. He was the second son ofōtsuzumi performer Ōkura Chōjūrō 15th, and was instructed by his

father. He is now the 16th head of the Ōkura School (kotsuzumi) as
well as the acting head of the Ōkura School (ōtsuzumi).
The Saika Award of 2016 was given to ‘Nagomi Kyōgen-kai
Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017ˉ GENNOH and KYO

Czech’.
‘Nagomi Kyōgen-kai Czech’ is a professional Kyōgen troupe that
performs in the Czech language in the Czech Republic as well as inother countries all around Eastern Europe, their spokesman is the
Kyōgen performer Ondřej Hýbl.
The appointments of new officers in the Nohgaku Association
were also announced in the course of the year. The new Chairman isKanze Tetsunojō, Managing Director Honda Mitsuhiro, and new
Executive Directors are Takeda Munekazu, Kagawa Seiji, andKunikawa Jun. In addition, there were 18 Directors and 2 Auditors
appointed as well. Kanze Kiyokazu, Kongō Hisanori and Nomura
Man received appointments as Advisors.
040

Exhibitions and Symposiums
The National Noh Theatre’s exhibition “Noh in the Houses of
the Early Modern Feudal Lords” was conducted from January 6th toMarch 27th in the National Noh Theatre Material Exhibition Room.
Various materials, such as: correspondence between Noh performers and feudal lords as well as other high ranking members of
the warrior class, Noh programs, masks and costumes, as well as
katatsuke (manuals for movement) and utaibon (written chant texts),
in all, 66 items from the early to the late Edo Period were on display
for inspection.
The Yokohama Noh Theatre featured a special performanceseries called ‘Traditional Noh and Kyōgen Masks’ on June 11th, July
17th, August 21st and September 24th. Masks passed down withineach school and each house were used in performances, whichfeatured famous masks such as: Hakushiki jō (Old Man - white),
Kokushiki jō (Old Man - black) made by Nikkō, used by shite performer Umewaka Genshō in a performance of Okina; Yuki no
Ko-omote (Young Woman of the Snow), made by Tatsuemon wasworn by Kongō Tatsunori in Kakitsubata – zōgen no hyōshi (TheSpirit of the Iris) and the mask Fushiki-zō (Middle Aged Female) madeby Zōami and worn by Hōshō Fusao in Yuya (The Lady Yuya). In
addition, Kanze Tetsunojō wore the mask Kawazu (Haggard Man)
made by Himi in Fujito (The Tragedy at Fujito)
The Nohgaku Performers Association hosted a symposium
called, ‘Shikigaku (Ceremonial Music) of the Edo Period and the
Present Day’ at the National Noh Theatre on February 4th, which
was presided over by Noh shite performer Kanze Yoshimasa, Kyōgen
performer Nomura Man, the former director of the Agency for041

Cultural Affairs Kondō Seiichi and former CEO of the 2020 Olympic
Committee Mizuno Masato.

Successions of Heads of Schools (Sōke)
In 2016, the waki (supporting role) performer Hōshō Kinya wasnamed the 13th Head of the Hōshō School. He was born in 1967, andis the eldest son of Hōshō Kan.
Kanze Shinkurō, a kotsuzumi performer of the Kanze School,
became the 19th Head of that school. He was born in 1965, and is theeldest son of Kanze Toyosumi.
Taiko performer Komparu Kuninao of the Komparu School
became the 24th leader of the Komparu School. He was born in 1987,
and is the eldest son of taiko performer Komparu Kunikazu, whorecently passed away.

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017ˉ GENNOH and KYO

Finally, the ōtsuzumi (large hip drum) performer of the Kadono
School, Kamei Hirotada became the 15th head of the school. He
was born in 1974, and he is the eldest son of ōtsuzumi performer
Kamei Tadao.

Performances of Great Works in 2016
I will now mention some of the performances of the most important works of the Noh repertoire in 2016. In the career of a Noh performer, the first performance of Dōjōji is an important milestone,
however, I will list all performances throughout the year, whether
first time or repeat performances, in chronological order (variant performances are omitted).

042

Umewaka Genshō(March 21st, Umewaka-kai Special Program)

Yabu Katsunori(March 27th, Hōshō-kai Special Program)

Tatsumi Manjirō(April 17th, Manjirō no Kai)

Mikata Shizuka(April 30th, Program of Noh Commemorating Kichibē’s 60th
Birthday)Umewaka Motonori(May 14th, Umeda Noh)

Takushima Noriko(May 28th, Shōfū-kai Special Program)

Nakamori Kanta(June 19th, Program for beginners of Noh)

Katayama Kurōemon (October 8th, Nobeoka-Tengaichi Takigi Noh)
Sakai Ototaka(October 9th, Hakushō-kai)

Kawamura Kazuaki(October 9th, Kawamura Family Special Memorial Program)Ōnishi Fumihisa(October 22nd, Umeda Noh)

Kanze Atsuo(October 30th, 17th Memorial Noh for Kanze Tetsunojō
Seisetsu 8th)

Kanze Yoshimasa(November 26th, Know-Noh Noh)

Tatsumi Manjirō(November 26th, Manjirō no Kai)

Yamanaka Kazuma(December 17th, Ō-Ei-kai)

Aoki Ken-ichi(December 25th, Aoki Tadaichi 50th Memorial Program ofNoh)Next among the great works I will list those dealing with oldwoman sometimes referred to as ‘old-crone plays’ (variant performances omitted).
Ōmu Komachi
Kagawa Seiji (January 30th, The Yokohama Noh(Komachi’s Parrot-Reply Theatre Regularly Schedule Program)
Poem)
Kanze Kiyokazu (May 21st, Fukuoka Kanze-kai)
Tsumura Reijirō (July 2nd, Ryokusen-kai Special
Program)
Nomura Shirō (July 10th, Kahō-kai)
Hayashi Kiemon (October 23rd, Kyoto Kanze Noh)
ObasuteKanze Yoshimasa (March 20th, Kamiasobi)
Kanze Yasuhide (September 19th, Yasuhide no Kai)
Ōe Matasaburō (October 9th, Ōe Noh Theatre
Jishukōen)
Saeki Kikuko (November 26th, Saeki Kikuko no Kai)

Sotoba Komachi

Mikata Ken (April 3rd, Mine no Kai)
Katō Shingo (May 5th, Mei no Kai)

043

New Compositions (Shinsaku) and Reconstructed Works of
Noh and Kyōgen
Under the heading, New Compositions, I have included not only
‘newly-composed’ works as the expression ‘shinsaku’ suggests, but also
works that have been performed previously, although they are notpart of the standard repertoire.
New Noh Plays
Inoue Hirohisa

Teishō Nonme (Plum Trees January 16th, in praise ofin the Garden)
Niijima Jō

Umewaka Genshō

Meifu Kō – Nekia(Nekyia – Odysseus
Journey to Hades)

January 20th, Shinsaku
Noh: Meifu Kō Nekia

Asami Masakuni

Shōji no KawaTakasebune-kō(Thoughts on the Boat
Crossing the River Styx)

April 21st, 7th Memorial
Program for Tada Tomio

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017ˉ GENNOH and KYOŌshima Masanobu

Fukuyama

July 16th, Shinsaku Noh
Fukuyama Premiere

Ueno Tomoyoshi

Ikukunitama(Ikukunitama Shrine)

August 11th, Osaka Takigi
NohAoki Michiyoshi

Eiketsu no Asa(The Morning of a Long
Farewell)

October 29th, Tōsei Noh

Yamamoto Akihiro

Mizu no Wa(The Waterwheel)

November 4th, Mizu no
Wa Beyond 2020

Kanze Tetsunojō

Chinkon (Requiem)

November 14th,
Auschwitz/Fukushima no
Noh by Jadwiga Rodowicz

Tatsumi Manjirō

Osero (Othello)

December 3rd, Shinsaku
Noh Osero

Kaneshibari(Sleep Paralysis)

October 6th, Rōsoku Noh

New Kyōgen Plays
Inoue Matsujirō044

Ibaraki Dōji 2016
October 23rd, Shinsaku
Shigeyama Senzaburō (The Demon from Ibaraki
Kyōgen2016)
Kamiasobi
Shigeyama Senzaburō (The Entertainments of
the Gods)
Nomura Mansaku

October 29th, Tōzai
Kyōgen no Kyōen.

Narayama Bushi-kō
November 27th, Mansaku(The Ballad of Narayama) wo Miru Kai

Reconstructed Noh and Kyōgen Plays
Umewaka Kishō

Kikujidō Tekkenzan(The Boy of the
Chrysanthemum
Leaves at the
Tekkenzan
Mountain)February 3rd, National Noh Theatre
Regularly Scheduled Program.
This work was first reconstructed
in 2004 by Umewaka Rokurō(Genshō), who produced,
composed and choreographed it.

Umewaka Genshō/ Natori no RōjoŌtsuki Bunzō(The Old Woman
from the Natori
Village)

March 25th/26th, National Noh
Theatre Regularly Scheduled
Special Program. This work isalso known as Go-ō (Protected by
Buddhist Law)or Natori Ōna (TheOld Woman from Natori), andwas reconstructed by Shigeyama
Sensaku 4th in 1993, with direction
and script by Oda Sachiko andKobayashi Kenji.

Aoki Michiyoshi

Tetsumon(The Iron Gate)

June 5th, Experimental Program of
Reconstructed Works. The piece
was written by Takahama Kyoshi
and was first performed in 1916.
The performance in 2016 marks
100 years since the work was firststaged.

Katō Shingo

Fushiki Soga (The
Tale of the Soga
Brothers at Fushiki
Village)November 26th, Shōnan Hiratsuka
Noh/Kyōgen

Uzawa Hisa

Matsura Sayohime(Princess Sayo from
Pine Bay)

December 11th, Uzawa Hisa no Kai

045

Yamamoto Yasutarō Wakana (Wine,
February 3rd, Reconstructed
Women and Spring) Kyōgen, National Noh Theatre
Regular Program. This play was
first reconstructed in 1987 at the
National Noh Theatre, with ascript and direction by Yamamoto
Tōjirō, and Noh music setting by
Yamamoto Noritada. The research
for the reconstruction was
conducted by scholars Koyama
Hiroshi and Ogasawara Kyōko.

Memorial Programs of Noh and Kyōgen
There were numerous commemorative programs of Noh andKyōgen during 2016, listed chronologically below, naming the shite
actor of the main work performed:

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017ˉ GENNOH and KYO

046

Ueda Teruya 33rd Memorial
Program of Noh(January 17th)

Ueda Takuji performed
Koi no Omoni (Love’s
Heavy Burden).

Sugiura Motosaburō 3rd
Memorial Program of Noh(January 31st)

Sugiura Toyohiko in
Sotoba Komachi

13th Memorial Program of Noh (February 14th)
remembering the 24th head ofthe Ōtsuki FamilyŌtsuki Yaemon in Sanbon
no Hashira (The Three
Pillars)

Yoshinami Jun-ichi 33rd
Memorial Program of Noh(March 20th)

Yoshinami Toshiaki in
Ataka (Yoshitsune andBenkei at Ataka)

Katayama Yūsetsu 1stMemorial Program of Noh
at the Katayama Regularly
Scheduled Special Program ofNoh(March 26th)

Takeda Kunihiro inHajitomi (The Episode ofHikaru Genji, Lady Yūgao
and the Latticed Shutter)

25th Memorial Program to(June 11th)
remember Kanze Sakon Osaka
Kanze-kaiKanze Kiyokazu in Miwa
(Blessings of the Goddess
Miwa Myōjin)Tatsune no Kai remembering
Morita Mitsuharu(June 19th)

Katayama Kurōemon in
Miwa

Yorozu Kyōgen Special
Program : The 13th Memorial
Program for Manzo 8th(July 23rd)

Nomura Man in Dai
Dengaku (Grand Music for
Rice Planting)Memorial Program for Kanze(July 31st)
Toyosumi/ Hōshō Kan/ Sowa
Hiroshi at the 22nd Nōgaku-za
Jishukōen

Kanze Tetsunojō in Tenko(The Drum from Heaven)

Yamamoto Noritada 7thMemorial Program of Noh

Yamamoto Yasutarō in
Rice Fields (Onda)(August 11th)

Katayama Keijirō 7th Memorial (September 22nd) Katayama Shingo in
Program of Noh
Kinuta (The Fulling Block).
Kawamura Family Special
Memorial Program(October 9th)

Kawamura Kazuaki in
Dōjōji27th Memorial Program of Noh (October 22nd)for Kanze Sakon 25th

Kanze Kiyokazu in Miwa

Yamamoto Masayoshi 17th
Memorial Program of Noh(October 30th)

Yamamoto Akihiro in
Sotoba KomachiŌshima Hisami 13th Memorial
Program of Noh(December 23rd) Ōshima Iori in Tsunemasa(The Fall of Prince
Tsunemasa)

Nohgaku Performers/ Related Individuals who passed away
Nohgaku performers and related individuals who passed away in2015 - 2016:
Kusafuka Kiyoshi (October 10th 2015). Nohgaku Critic. 89 years
old.
Sowa Hiroshi (December 2nd, 2015). Kotsuzumi performer. Preserver of Important Intangible Cultural Properties - Individual
Certification 90 years old.
Hōshō Kan (February 1st, 2015). Preserver of Important Intangible Cultural Properties - Individual Certification Waki performer
Important Intangible Cultural Asset - Individual Certification. 81
years old.
Ishii Nihē (February 1st). Ōtsuzumi performer and head of the047

Ishii School. 80 years old.
Mikawa Izumi (February 13th). Shite performer of the Hōshō
School. Preserver of Important Intangible Cultural PropertiesIndividual Certification. 94 years old.
Kanze Toyosumi (February 18th). Kotsuzumi performer and headof the Kanze School. 81 years old.
Kita Roppeita (February 21st). Shite performer and head of theKita School. 91 years old.
Yamasaki Yū ichir ō (April 26th). Former Director of the
Yokohama Noh Theatre and Nohgaku critic. 102 years old.
Hoashi Masanori (June 1st). Nohkan (Noh Flute) performer ofthe Morita School. Composer of new Kyōgen plays such as
Shinigami (God of Death) and Harabe Yama (Mount Harabe). 85
years old.
Kano Shūhō (July 24th). Shite performer of the Kita School. 79
Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017ˉ GENNOH and KYO

years old.
Horigami Ken (November 30th). Professor Emeritus at
Kokugakuin University. Nohgaku Scholar. 85 years old.
Nishi, Tetsuo
Nohgaku Scholar. Born in 1937. Graduated from Saitama University. Has worked
for Tokyo-dō Shuppan Publishing House; as a part-time instructor at Musashino
University; as a part-time instructor at Bunka Gakuin; as chief juror for the
Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Arts Festival – both Nohgaku and Theatre
departments; on the Selection Committee for Arts Encouragement - classicalarts and Theatre departments; on the committee of experts for the Japan
Performing Arts Foundation (National Noh Theatre), and is a co-author of theNohgaku Daijiten (Encyclopedia of Nohgaku) (Chikuma Shobō).
(Translation: James Ferner)

048

Kabuki and Bunraku
Two great name-taking ceremonies andthe 50th anniversary of the National Theatre.
Mizuochi Kiyoshi
The big events on the Kabuki scene of 2016 were the name-taking ceremonial programs (shūmei) of Nakamura Shibajaku, who became
Nakamura Jakuemon 5th, and Nakamura Hashinosuke, who became
Nakamura Shikan 8th. Shikan’s three sons also took the names
Nakamura Hashinosuke 4th, Nakamura Fukunosuke 3rd, andNakamura Utanosuke 4th respectively at the same occasion. These
ceremonies were both conducted over several months.
The program for Nakamura Jakuemon began in March at the

049

Kabuki-za. In June it moved to the Hakata-za in Kyushu, continuing
on to the Shochiku-za in Osaka in July, after which, it went on tour
for the rest of the summer, ending up at the Pontochō Kaburenjō
Theater in Kyoto with a spectacular program that brought all the
big stars together in December. At the Kabuki-za, Jakuemon performed the big onnagata (female) roles: Princess Tokihime in The
Three Generations of Kamakura Shōguns (Kamakura Sandaiki) andprincess Yukihime of The Golden Pavilion Temple (Kinkakuji) withthe great stars Onoe Kikugor ō, Nakamura Kichiemon, Sakata
Tōjūrō, Matsumoto Kōshirō and Kataoka Nizaemon to make thisname-taking ceremony a lively extravaganza. Jakuemon went on to
perform one great onnagata role after another, demonstrating his
great abilities during the year.
The name-taking ceremony program of Nakamura Shikan, both

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

KABUKI and BUNRAKU

father and sons began in November and continued for two months at
the Kabuki-za. In October Shikan played Genji general Kumagai
Naozane from Kumagai’s Battle Camp (Kumagai Jinya); in November,
Genji general Sasaki Moritsuna from Moritsuna’s Battle Camp
(Moritsuna Jinya), two big historical drama (jidaimono) roles, as well
the role of gallant townsman Banzui Chōbei from the domestic(sewamono) play The Renowned Banzui Chobei. He also performed
The Lion Dance (Renjishi) from Japan Classical Dance (Nihon Buyō),with his sons, adding decor to the great event in which all the leading
figures of Kabuki joined their efforts.
The other important event of the year was the commemorative
program for the 50th anniversary of the National Theatre. The
National Theatre celebrated over a period of three months, starting in
October with a complete performance of all eleven acts of The
050

Treasury of Loyal Retainers (Kanadehon Chūshingura). This was alsodone back in 1986, when the theatre celebrated its 20th anniversary, atthat time also staging the same play over a three-month period withall the big names of the world of Kabuki participating. The present
complete staging of the work, after a long hiatus, was a performance
truly befitting the commemoration of half a century. In October, theopening act (daijo) through to Act 4 was performed, with MatsumotoK ō shir ō in the role of lead avenger Ōboshi Yuranosuke andNakamura Baigyaku in the role of lord Enya Hangan. In November,
the Fugitives (Ochūdo) section with the 5th, 6th and 7th acts were performed with Onoe Kikugorō as loyal retainer Hayano Kanpei andNakamura Kichiemon as Yuranosuke. In December, the section fromthe 8th act until the final departure scene was performed with
Matsumoto Kōshirō as retainer Kakogawa Honzō and Nakamura
Baigyaku as Yuranosuke. The play was performed with the peripheral

roles taken by rising younger and middle-age actors.
During 2016, the Kabuki scene smoothly passed through aperiod of transition, with these events at the center. The programs
each month at the Kabuki-za were staged by different members.
Although the big stars all joined together during the name-taking
programs, the big names tended to perform in tandem with theyounger actors, except in September when Nakamura Kichiemon andBandō Tamasaburō performed The Yoshino River (Yoshinogawa)
together. In May Ichikawa Ebizō, Onoe Kikunosuke and Onoe
Shōroku, who are considered as the leaders of the next generation ofactors, performed together and in June, Ichikawa Somegorō andIchikawa Ennosuke took the main roles in a performance of
Yoshitsune and a Thousand Cherry Trees (Yoshitsune Senbonzakura),with middle-level and younger actors stalwartly providing support.
051

Programs such as these are increasing in number year by year. In
October, Kataoka Nizaemon starred together in The Treasury of
Loyal Retainers in the Genroku Era (Genroku Chūshingura), a performance which was very well received.
There were many newly written Kabuki plays performed in thepast year. To list them by name: New Version of ‘The Tycoon’s Exploits’(Shinsho Taikōki, February,), Kūkai’s Feast with Demons in China(Gensōshin Kukai, April), Shank’s Mare (Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige,
August) and The Story about Courtesan Urazato (Sato no Uwasa
Yamanaya Urazato, August) were performed at the Kabuki-za and at
the Shinbashi Enbujō. In addition to that in January, there was a performance of the resurrected play Seven Masks (Nanatsu Men). Other
performances included works staged for the second time, such as:Grand Thief Ishikawa Goemon (Ishikawa Goemon), which wasrestaged performed in October at the Shinbashi Theatre. The kabuki

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

KABUKI and BUNRAKU

play One Piece, based on the popular manga with the same name, wasrestaged in March at the Shōchiku-za, continued to the Hakataz za in
April, and was edited and broadcasted as movie in the Cinema
Kabuki series, which is shown all over Japan. In December, the second
adaptation from a children’s story called One Stormy Night (Arashi no
Yoru ni) was staged at the Kabuki-za. This shows that Kabuki havebegun to draw their material from a wide variety of genres and there
have also been a number of new experimental productions making
use of film.
At the National Theatre in January, the work The Magical Thief,
Kogitsune Reiza (Koharunagi Okitsu Shiranami) by Kawatake
Mokuami was refurbished, making use of the newest technology to
depict the changing of the four seasons creating scenes that overflowed with visual beauty.
052

Kabuki actors perform in other genres more frequently every
year. Ichikawa Ennosuke appeared in the contemporary theaterplay Forest of the Thousand-Year Love (Genroku Minato-Uta, January,
Theatre Cocoon), and in November and December, at the Setagaya
Public Theatre he performed in The Great Enokeso (Enokeso
Ichidaiki), a performance for which he was given Kinokuniya
Theatre Award for contemporary theatre. Also Nakamura Kankurō
performed the main role in the contemporary play The Ten Heroesof Sanada (Sanada Jūyūshi) at the New National Theatre, as well as
a variety of other roles in other venues including such projects asappearing in video footage of Kabuki in the observatory tower ofTokyo’s Sky Tree. Nakamura Kazutarō performed in Shakespeare’s
Richard the Third (Sandaime Richard) in November at The Tokyo
Metropolitan Theatre.
Furthermore, there was an international collaboration involving

Japan, Singapore and Indonesia in which a kabuki play written by
Noda Hideki was directed by Singapore’s Ong Keng Sen. Ichikawa
Ebizō produced a program aimed at popularizing classical works entitled ‘Invitation to the Classics’ together with Noh and Kyōgen performers that was performed in various places, and in May, Ichikawa
Somegorō produced a Kabuki Show in Las Vegas called, ‘The Essenceof Kabuki’ where he performed, Kabuki Lion Shishiō: The Adventuresof the Mythical Lion. In May, father and son Bandō Yajūrō and Bandō
Shingo too performed Kabuki dances together in Switzerland, France
and Spain.
With the increase in the number of tourists visiting from foreigncountries and the Tokyo Olympics/Para-Olympics due to be held in
2020, the production of English audioguides and sub-titles has
increased at all Kabuki theatres. The Kabuki-za also offers threepart programs for the easier enjoyment of Kabuki in June, August053

and December. To that, the National Theatre held a Program of
Kabuki for foreigners with explanation in English, Chinese andKorean in June.
Bunraku puppet theatre was performed five times at its homebase, the National Bunraku Theatre in Osaka and four times at the
National Small Theatre in Tokyo during 2016. A Bunraku groupalso toured various regional theatres around the country. Until now,
audience attendance in Osaka has been low compared to that inTokyo, but during 2016, Osaka gradually experienced an increase inaudience numbers.
The January program at the Bunraku Theatre presented threewell-known works during the morning show: The Love of Osomeand Hisamatsu (Shinban Utazaimon), The Sumo Wrestler’s Banner

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

KABUKI and BUNRAKU(Sekitori Senryō Nobori) and Fishing for Wives (Tsuri Onna). Part
two consisted of just one work, The Battle of Coxinga (Kokusenya
Kassen) by Chikamatsu Monzaemon. During these performances, theaudience registered at 69.4% of the capacity, which is a rise from theprevious year. Chanter Toyotake Shimatayū (83 years), announced
his retirement due to age and made The Sumo Wrestler’s Banner his
final performance. In March puppeteer Yoshida Bunjaku (88 years),
also announced his retirement for the same reason. With his wealthof knowledge of all things concerning Bunraku, he is especially considered to be good at deciding on the heads (kashira) of the puppetsthat were to be used in a particular performance (kashira-wari).
Shortly after announcing his retirement he became ill and passed
away. With the elders of Bunraku retiring in this way during the year,
it has meant a sudden shift in the supporting ranks to the younger054

generation. In April Chikamatsu Hanji’s masterpiece Mt. Imo and Mt.
Se: An Exemplary Tale of Womanly Virtue (Imoseyama Onna Teikin)
was performed in its entirety. It has been quite a while since thewhole piece was performed in this way in Osaka, but it was very wellreceived and the recorded audience numbers exceeded expectations.
In June, according to custom, as part of the Bunraku Appreciation
Workshop, The Dance of Sanbasō (Ninin Sanbasō), a lecture and The
Summer Festival at Naniwa (Natsumatsuri Naniwa Kagami) were
performed. This program was done twice, in the morning and theafternoon, and though the plan was primarily to attract high school
students, the event sold out, with many regular fans also crowding in.
The same program was performed on the 7th and the 13th in the lateafternoon from 6:30pm as the ‘Introduction to Bunraku for Working
People’ and on the 12th from 2pm with English explanation as the‘Introduction to Bunraku for Foreigners’. In each instance there wasa large crowd present to enjoy the performances. In July, there wasa three-part program entitled, ‘The Summer Vacation Program of
Bunraku’: the first part consisting of ‘The Theatre for Parents andChildren’ with the work, The Gojō Bridge (Gojōbashi), a play thateven children can enjoy, and Pilgrimage to the West (Saiyuki), as well
as a lecture entitled: ‘Guidance for Bunraku Beginners’; the second
part, ‘Great Works of Bunraku’ had performances of, The Story of
Kasane (Meiboku Kasane Monogatari), and The Bloodthirsty Sword(Ise Ondo). Part three was ’The Summer Late Show’ with a performance of a work by Inoue Hisashi entitled The Story of an Old Miser(Kanatsubo Oyaji Koino Takehiki), which was based on, L’Avare (The
Miser) by Moliere. In the October program, to commemorate the50th Anniversary of the National Theatre, part one staged Shidōjji
Temple (Shidōji), The Love-Inspired Murder (Koimusume Mukashi
Hachijō) and The Cherry Trees along the Hidaka River (Hidakagawa),

055

and in part two, Honzō in the Detached Palace (Honzō Shimoyashiki),
The Sake merchant (Sakaya) and The Subscription List (Kanjinchō)were performed.
In Tokyo, at the National Small Theatre, the February program
first featured The Monkey-Skin Quiver (Utsubo-Zaru) and The Battleof Kawanaka Island (Shinshū Kawanakajima Kassen), secondly The
Inauspicious Sword (Sakuratsuba Urami no Samezaya) and The Sumo
Wrestler’s Banner. The third part featured a performance of Yoshitsune
and a Thousand Cherry Trees (Yoshitsune Senbonzakura). As it turned
out, the performance of The Sumo Wrestler’s Banner (Sekitori Senryō
Nobori) was the farewell performance of Toyotake Shimatayu. In
May, the same ‘Bunraku Appreciation Workshop’, which is usually
put on in December, was presented together with a program featuring
the younger performers to accommodate the commemoration of theTheatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

KABUKI and BUNRAKU

50th anniversary of the National Theatre’s opening, staged in December. The ‘Bunraku Appreciation Workshop’ was staged twice, with aperformance of The Love Suicides at Sonezaki (Sonezaki Shinjū) alongwith a lecture both in the morning and in the afternoon. The same
program was performed on the 13th, 16th and 20th, at 6:30 in theevening, as the ‘Bunraku Appreciation Workshop for Working
People’, and on the 23rd at 6:30 in the evening with an English lecture
as the ‘Bunraku Appreciation Workshop for Foreigners’ too. All ofthese programs were completely sold out. The program for younger
performers featured a performance of The Tycoon’s Exploit (Ehon
Taikōki). In September, the first part of the celebrations of the
National Theatre’s anniversary featured a performance of the firsttwo sections of The Battle of Ichinotani (Ichinotani Futabagunki), the056

second part Long Live Sanbasō (Kotobuki Shiki Sanbasō) and the third
section of The Battle of Ichinotani. In December there was a performance of the most famous work The Treasury of Loyal Retainers(Kanadehon Chūshingura). The first part ran from the opening (daijo)
to the sixth act and part two consisted of acts seven until act eleven,
thereby performing the entire work over a period of eleven hours. In
Tokyo, the popularity of Bunraku has always been high and paid
attendance for all the programs exceed 90% capacity, but in the
December program was completely sold out in the advance ticket
sales.
After the retirement of Shimatay ū , the eldest member of theTayū (reciter) camp is Toyotake Sakitayū. Sakitayū has now become
the leader, reciting the most important acts of each work. From thefollowing generation, Takemoto Chitosedayū has shown himself tobe the most accomplished reciter. Takemoto Mojihisaday ū andToyotake Hanabusadayū seem to be in a slump and so it is rather thelikes of Toyotake Rosetayū from the middle-age ranks as well as the
younger performer, Toyotake Sakihodayū who have been showing
their strengths and are being assigned some of the more important
recitation scenes. In addition to their rich voices, they have a passion
for studying the roles. Among the younger performers, Toyotake
Yoshihodayū and Toyotake Yasutayū are also coming along.
The eldest of the Shamisen players, Tsuruzawa Kanji is in good
health. And Tsuruzawa Seiji from the next generation has also been
giving some excellent performances. In addition, with the likes of,
Toyozawa Tomisuke, Tsuruzawa Seisuke, Nozawa Kinshi and the
younger performer, Tsuruzawa Tōzō, the lineup of personnel is richly
filled out.
The eldest performer of the puppeteer group, Yoshida Minosuke
is not as active as he was previously, but as always, he still crafts beau057

tiful female characters. In the next generation, Yoshida Kazuo has
shown some solid performing ability. Yoshida Tamao who takes thelead roles in the historical pieces was awarded a Commendation by
the Citizens of Osaka City. Kiritake Kanjū rō, whether taking on
male, female or even comic roles has shown a superb flexibility oftechnique and received the Mainichi Art Award. These three performers make up the backbone of the puppeteer camp but in the group of
middle-aged performers Yoshida Tamaya and Toyomatsu Seijūrō, aswell as the younger performers Yoshida Tamaka, Yoshida Ichisuke
and Yoshida Kōsuke have also been adding their strength. We havemuch to look forward to in the years to come.

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

KABUKI and BUNRAKU

Mizuochi, Kiyoshi
Born in 1936 in Osaka. Graduated from Waseda University Faculty of Literature,
specializing in Theatre. From 1970 he was in charge of the Theatre section for
the Arts and Cultural News department of the Mainichi Shimbun and served as
vice-chairman for that newspaper as well as having been a member of the
Editorial board and also a special committee member before his retirement.
Currently he is Affiliate Member of the Editorial Board. From the year 2000, he
was a professor at J. F. Oberlin University, retiring in 2007 as Professor Emeritus.
His writings include: Kamigata Kabuki, Bunraku, Heisei Kabuki Haiyu-ron andothers.
(Translation: James Ferner)

058

MusicalsMusicals Going Against
The Trend of Narrow-Mindedness
Hagio Hitomi
Narrow-mindedness is spreading all over the world and it could befelt even stronger in 2016. I wonder how much performing arts canfight off the tendency towards discrimination and exclusivism. The
reason that musicals presented in 2016 dealing with subject matters ofLGBT and minorities appealed to us all the more, is probably notcompletely unrelated to such narrow-minded atmosphere.
059

The Hunchback of Notre Dame Becomes Serious
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which opened in December, was
one of the best shows in 2016. It was presented as a new productionof Shiki Theatre Company’s Disney musical series that started off
with Beauty and the Beast (Japan premiere in 1995) and includes Aida
(2003), The Little Mermaid (2013) and Aladdin (2015). With the exception of Aida, all of them were musical adaptations of Walt Disney’s
animation films. The music for The Hunchback of Notre Dame (composed by Alan Menken and lyrics written by Stephen Schwarts) isbased on the preceding animation version (1996).
However, the stage version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame wasa challenging piece that was quite different from the animation film.
Not only was the order of the numbers changed, but also the script(written by Peter Burnell, script and lyrics translated into Japanese by
Takahashi Chikae) went back to Victor Hugo’s original novel, and as

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

MUSICALS

a result, it was turned into a vivid new production, quite different interms of colour and drama. To put it shortly, you can say that it has
now turned into a musical that protests against the intolerance that is
spreading all over the world today. Scott Schwartz’s direction madethis point very clear.
The story is set in Paris at the end of the 15th century. The bell
ringer at Notre Dame Cathedral called Quasimodo (played in turns
by Kaiho Naoto and Iida Tatsuro) has a deformed physical appearance by birth. He has been brought up by an archdeacon named
Claude Frollo (played by Shiba Kiyomichi) and is also controlled byhim. One festival day, Quasimodo goes to town, disobeying Frollo’s
order for the first time, and comes across a Gypsy dancer named
Esmeralda. Unlike many past film and stage productions based on
the same novel, in this production, the story evolves around how
060

Quasidomo becomes aware of himself.
The way Quasidomo makes his first appearance in the opening
scene is quite striking. A healthy-looking dignified young man
appears from upstage, twists and bends his body while he smears his
face with black ink and morphs into the deformed Quasimodo. In
the staging, we see how a person changes into something else
instantly, from beautiful to ugly, from positive to negative and fromnormal to abnormal. The director’s point is that differences andboundaries causing discriminations actually do not exist in reality,
and this point is repeated in the last scene. This time, every character
except for Quasimodo make their faces dirty as they curl up theirbodies and turn into deformed figures.
Up till ‘Someday’, which is a number near the end, the musicalstraightforwardly appeals to us about the stupidity of discriminationand exclusion. It even makes you think that it was meant to appear inthe musical scene now, at this timing.

Two Musicals Dealing with LGBTs as the Subject Matter
Kinky Boots and Pricilla, Queen of the Desert, depicting LGBTs,
or rather gays and drag queens as their main characters, opened inJapan as well. Both of them are film-based musicals, which is a recent
trend. The U.S. tour version of Kinky Boots (music by Cyndi Lauper)also came on tour to Japan. Both the Japanese and U.S. versions basically traced the original film, including the direction and choreography (by Jerry Mitchel).
The story is about Charlie (played by Koike Teppei), a successor
to a near-bankrupt shoe factory, who encounters a drag queen called
Laura (Miura Shunma) and starts manufacturing boots for men who
like to dress like women. The story of the musical version is the sameas the film (2005) but the friendship between the two main characters061

and their conflicted feelings toward their fathers are emphasized. The
theme of recognizing and accepting people who are odd ones out isvery typical of Harvey Feierstein’s scripts. This theme is reflectedwith clarity in the number ‘Hold Me In Your Heart’ with the lyrics
saying, “just the way that I am”. However, in the directions, there
seemed to be more focus on entertainment rather than putting astrong emphasis on the theme. I had the same impression when I saw
the show on Broadway.
Other than the two actors playing the leading roles, Sonim’s
wonderful performance was worth watching. Above all, Miura
Shunma, who took on the challenge of performing in a full-scalemusical for the first time, was appealing. His glamorous presencechanged the atmosphere instantly, and the way he danced in heels wasa delightful surprise.

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

MUSICALS

In 2006, Pricilla, Queen of the Desert was made into a musical inAustralia, where the original film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queenof the Desert was made. It was mounted in Japan after having run in
London (2009) and on Broadway (2011). The story is based on a ‘roadmovie’ about three ‘buddies’ that are drag queens called Tick (played
by Yamazaki Ikusaburō), Bernadette (played by Jin-nai Takanori) andAdam (played in turns by Jung Yoon-Hak and Furuya Keita), whotravel across Australia on their own special bus.
Naturally, the key point is that each of the three characters finds
out what is important for them through both the discrimination andthe kindness they experience along the way. Personally, the film
version of this story was the most compelling. Old Bernadette’s
wiliness and sadness, young Adam’s impulsive behavior from nothaving a place where he can be himself, and self-searching Tick, who062

was once married and had a child, loomed out with clarity. Seeing theLondon version, then the Broadway version and now the Japaneseversion, the sadness and conflicts seemed to have gradually faded
away, but perhaps it was because I had got used to it after seeing it anumber of times.
In the Japanese version (directed by Miyamoto Amon), originalideas were added, such as painting their bus, which had been pinksince the original film, in LGBT’s symbolic rainbow colour. Nevertheless, to be honest, I felt that it lacked something.

Jersey Boys and Other Musicals Directed by Young Directors
The Japan premiere of the Broadway musical Jersey Boys wasworth watching. It is a so-called ‘catalog musical (jukebox musical)’,depicting the career of an American band called The Four Seasonsthat came up with hit songs one after another during the 1960. This

musical won the Tony Award in 2006 and was made into a film by
Clint Eastwood in 2014. The Japanese version was directed brilliantly
by Fujita Shuntaro, who has previously shown his talents in directing
the musical The Beautiful Game in 2015.
The staging was marvelous. The scenery was made up of threelayers and the video monitors set on both sides of the stage were usedtactfully, turning the audience into witnesses as though they were
living in that period of time. Nakagawa Akinori, who played theleading role of Frankie Valli, led the stage, singing with his fabulous
high-pitched voice in a free and easy manner. The other actors of the
double cast performing in turns were also impressive. To be honest, it
was a good production that expressed both youthful sparkle andsadness more than the Broadway version.
In 2016, works by other talented young directors like Fujita
became prominent. For instance, there was Harada Ryō, who wrote

063

and directed For the People - Lincoln, Jiyū wo Motometa Otoko (For the
People: Lincoln, the Man Who Sought Freedom, performed by Flower
Troup of Takarazuka Revue). Harada started to show his talent a
couple of years ago, and he succeeded in the challenge he took onwith Lincoln. In no way was the subject matter characteristic of
Takarazuka Revue, as it was conservative and plain. Nevertheless, hecatered it for Takarazuka with a sweet and colourful tone, while still
maintaining the central theme of a man who fought for freedom.
Other young directors besides Harada Ryō are emerging one
after another from Takarazuka Revue. One of them is Ueda Kumiko,
who has shown her excellent caliber for writing tightly-woven plots
and fluid staging in every production she has worked on since
Tsukigumo no Miko: Soto-ori Hime Densetsu Yori (Prince Cloud-Covered
Moon: From the Legend of Princess Soto-ori, 2013), which was her debut

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

MUSICALS

musical as a writer and director. In 2016, many promising young
directors kept on appearing and among them was Ikuta Hirokazu,
who directed Shakespeare: Sora ni Mitsuru wa Tsukisenu Koto-no-ha(Shakespeare: The Sky Filled With Eternal Words). Of course, there
must be other up-and-coming directors.
The world of Japanese musicals has been suffering from a lack of
directors for quite a long time. There are veteran directors like thedistinguished Koike Shū ichiro, who became famous for directing
Elisabeth, and Ogita Kōichi, who showed his particular ideas in Crestof the Royal Family in 2016, but a blank period lacking mid-range andyoung directors has continued for a while. The long-awaited newwave of talented young directors is likely to make the Japanesemusical scene more interesting in the future.
In musicals, music is of course an element that is very appealing
064

but it would be pointless if the script and direction cannot make useof the music. Unlike straight plays, the music can also save themusical as it sustains the show. Nevertheless, I would like to see moremusical productions with staging clearly hammering out the themes
and creating more depth like The Hunchback of Notre Dame andJersey Boys described earlier.
Thom Southerland’s direction of Grand Hotel was also interesting. It is a musical portraying the people who come and go throughGrand Hotel in Berlin at the end of the 1920s. Originally, Grand
Hotel opened on Broadway in 1920 and was directed by Tommy Tune.
It was Takarazuka Revue that presented Grand Hotel in Japan for the
first time back in 1993, which was also directed by Tommy Tunehimself. Later on, the same title was directed by a different director
and presented with a different company. This time, however, it waspresented with two groups of casts. Southerland’s direction,

especially the edgy stage direction for one of the groups, was stimulating. The last scene, in which the characters with various emotions
and life stories disperse in different directions, was depicted boldly bymaking apparent the rise of the Nazis and racial discrimination.
Popular musicals such as Edith Piaf: The Musical, Jekyll & Hyde,
Sweeney Todd, Elisabeth, Sister Act and Miss Saigon were revived thisyear as well. There were also many popular titles that were newly
produced, such as The Scarlet Pimpernel and Sweet Charity. Amongst
them, I was a bit disappointed with Scarlet Pimpernel (directed by
Gabriel Barre). Although good actors like Ishimaru Kanji and Aran
Kei were casted, it was a pity that the staging lacked details and noclear intensions were indicated. There must be many other directors
who can direct it better. Right now, there is a great need for finding
the right people and nurturing young talents.
065

Lastly, I would like to quickly add that the place of origin ofmusicals, including the production of original works, is becoming
even more diverse. Ambitious Off-Broadway musicals such as Murder
for Two and Murder Ballad, Korean musicals such as Finding Mr.
Destiny and new original works such as those constantly produced byMusical-za as well as 2.5-dimensional musicals based on comic books,
are giving greater variety to the musical scene in Japan.

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

MUSICALS

Hagio, Hitomi
Film and theatre critic. Hagio started her career as a newspaper journalist andwrites reviews for Tokyo Shimbun as well as a column series and articles formusical magazines. She has written books such as Musical ni Tsurete itte (literal
title: ‘Take me to the musicals’), Les Misérable no Hyakunin (literal title: ‘A Hundred
People of Les Misérable’) and others. She has also edited and written Broadway
Musical, Tony shō no Subete (literal title: ‘All about Broadway Musicals and the
Tony Awards’), Hajimete no Musical Eiga: Hagio Hitomi no Besto Selekushon 50(literal title: ‘Your First Musical Film: Top 50 Selected by Hagio Hitomi’) andothers.
(Translation : Sumida Michiyo)

066

Contemporary Theatre
Overcoming Immense Losses
Yamaguchi Hiroko

2016 saw the loss of several giants of the performing arts world inJapan, not least the directors Ninagawa Yukio and Matsumoto
Yūkichi, and the actor Hira Mikijirō.

A Spirit that Lives on in the Next Generation
All three continued to work with unwavering energy and ambition right up until the end of their lives.
From early 2015, Ninagawa started attending rehearsals in awheelchair with an oxygen tank. Even after illness got the better of

067

him, he continued to finalize his directing plans from hospital. In
January, he breathed new life into a classic by directing Genroku-era
Harbor Song (Genroku minato uta), written by Akimoto Matsuyo andwith Ichikawa Ennosuke in the lead role. In February, he revived
Richard II (Saitama Next Theatre, Saitama Gold Theater), which wasthen acclaimed at its appearance at the International Shakespeare
Festival in Romania in April. In May, he directed his last production,
the Shakespeare comedy Measure to Measure. On May 12th, shortly
before the first night of his final production, the Shakespeare comedy
Measure to Measure, he died at the age of 80, though nonetheless theshow did go on. In the white bird that was Tabe Mikako’s heroine as
the curtain went down, Ninagawa’s vestiges were clear.
His spirit carries on through the people he taught and who
worked under him.

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CONTEMPORARY THEATRE

Directing duties for the 10-Thousand Performers Gold Theater
project, which was an extension of Ninagawa’s efforts with making
theatre with older actors, were handled by Nozoe Seiji, who had
penned the script. On December 7th, the epic ensemble play Gold
Symphony: My Dream, Your Dream (Kiniro kōkyōkyoku—watashi no
yume, kimi no yume) was realized at Saitama Super Arena, whichroared with the vitality of around 1,600 people aged from their sixties
to nineties recruited from the general public.
Ninagawa’s role as artistic director of the Sai-no-kuni
Shakespeare Series, which had staged all but five of the Bard’s 37 playsby the time of his death, was assumed by the actor and director
Yoshida Kōtarō.
The work of Ninagawa’s long-time assistant director, Fujita
068

Shuntarō, has also been striking. He directed the musicals Letter(Tegami) and Jersey Boys as well as the drama Take Me Out (written by
Richard Greenberg). In these three excellent productions, he showed
how he has inherited his teacher’s accessible approach to theatre anduse of dynamic movement, to which he has added a unique sense ofrhythm and youth.
We are reminded of something Ninagawa once said: “Pass behind
you like you are playing rugby.”
The sudden death of Hira Mikijirō in October was a jolt, depriving us of someone who had long helped bring Ninagawa’s theatre tolife with its Japanese-inspired, beautifully rendered interpretations ofclassics from the Western canon, and grand presentations of big
Japanese plays. He starred in the play Cressida, written by Nicholas
Wright and directed by Mori Shintarō, until two weeks before his
death, giving us a masterful and physically supple performance that
belied his 82 years of age. From his appearance to his voice, his skill

with dialogue, intellect and passion, the loss of a truly multi-talented
actor at the pinnacle of his craft has left many in shock.
Matsumoto Yūkichi died of esophagus cancer on June 18th. He
led the Osaka-based Ishinha, which is known for its massive outdoor
performances that start with the company constructing a whole newtheatre. Matsumoto was just 69 years old and had directed a new play,
PORTAL (written by Hayashi Shinichirō), in February and March.
News of his death came during preparations for a production in theautumn at the remains of Heijō Palace in Nara. In October, Ishinha
followed his plans to stage Amahara, written and conceived by
Matsumoto, which evoked the idea of an Asia that is connected by theseas. With this, Ishinha brought its activities to a close.

An Increasingly Intolerant World
Globally the year increasingly seemed to exclude tolerance of069

others. The UK voted in a national referendum to leave the EU while
the presidential election in the United States saw the victory of a man
who has divided society with his cruel language. The far right is also
extending its power in Europe.
In Japan, the Abe administration has continued to railroad bills
through parliament; public discourse and diversity are diminishing.
Although examples of theatre have emerged confronting this social
situation, we have yet to see an artistically satisfying engagement with
the issues. In fact, it was rather productions of superb translated playsthat made us think profoundly.
Written by Ayad Akhtar and directed by Kuriyama Tamiya,
Disgraced was set in New York and fixed its gaze at humanity and theworld through two married couples from the social elite. The four all
have different backgrounds: Pak istani-A merican, WASP,Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CONTEMPORARY THEATRE

African-American, and Jewish. While the all-Japanese cast could notshow these racial differences visibly, this only helped to test the depthof the audience’s imagination and thinking about the inner depths ofthe human mind. Kuriyama also had hits with his productions of
Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, the British masterpiece in which the 19th
century and present day overlap, and Lee Kang-baek’s Head of the
Blowfish (Dara Dara), a South Korean play that allegorically portrays
a contemporary sense of hopelessness.
The production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible by the British
director Jonathan Munby vividly expressed rising peer pressure insociety. Meanwhile, the Japanese premiere of Bulgakov’s Zoyka’s
Apartment, directed by Kurosawa Seri for the company Jikandō,
which disbanded at the end of 2016, depicted the lives of people undermass surveillance. Although originally written against the backdrops
070

of, respectively, the Red Scare in America and the socialist society of
the Soviet Union in the 1920s, these productions resonated eerilywith present-day Japan. Chiba Tetsuya directed and starred in a production of the British playwright Joe Penhall’s Landscape with
Weapon, in which an engineer grapples with a moral dilemma overthe military use of his research. This also intersected with the situation in Japan, where a debate now rages over whether it is right orwrong for universities to accept research funds from the Ministry of
Defense and US military.
One artist who has continued to present sharp messages bothinternationally and domestically is Noda Hideki. His latest play,
Imperial Wrath (Gekirin), which he wrote, directed and starred in, diffused a range of images such as an aquarium and a group of dancing
mermaids, from which emerged the tragedy of so-called “human torpedoes” during the Second World War.

Noda is also in charge of Tokyo Caravan, a cultural event beingorganized in the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic
Games. The project is traveling around, creating encounters withpeople through art. It intermixes a wide range of elements, including regional traditional performing arts, contemporary theatre,
dance, robots, Noh, Japanese and Western music, and visual art.
The “caravan” even visited Rio de Janeiro, showing us the lithe
ability of the arts to oppose those powers that are attempting tobuild new barriers.

Meticulously, DynamicallyAmong new Japanese plays, those dealing with themes of familiar human relations attracted attention.
Hi-Bye’s Iwai Hideto wrote and directed Husband and Wife
(Fūfu). Though dominated by a fight against a father who ruled his

071

household like a tyrant, the superb play closed with a discovery ofhumanity when, after the patriarch’s death, the formerly enslaved
mother indicated how she had relied on her husband’s professionalism. Hōrai Ry ūta wrote and directed Oh, now it’s love. (Aa, ima
dakara ai.) for the company Modern Swimmers, as well as writing theParco productions of On a Mother and Planet, and a Record of
Women Who Revolve (Haha to wakusei nitsuite, oyobi jiten suru
onnatachi no kiroku), directed by Kuriyama Tamiya, and Celestial
Tropic (Hoshi-kaikisen), which he directed himself. In this series ofplays, he meticulously depicted the recovery of humanity and the riftsthat arises in close relationships, such as those between husbands andwives or parents and children. Iwamatsu Ryō, meanwhile, wrote anddirected Domestic Disappearance (Kateinai shissō), densely portraying
the inscrutability of humanity through a twisted married couple.

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CONTEMPORARY THEATRE

Same Dream (Onaji yume), written and directed by Akahori Masaaki,
explored the frustrations that arise within families and between men
and women.
One new, highly individual play that left a strong impression was
Go Go Boys Go Go Heaven (Gō -gō bōizu gō -gō hebun), written,
directed and starring Matsuo Suzuki. Its daring narrative, which featured as its protagonist a male writer who becomes enamored with abeautiful male prostitute in a country in a state of civil war, deftly
depicted a conflict that exists side by side with everyday life as well as
the exploitation of human nature.
Cinema and the Lover (Kinema to koibito), written and directedby Keralino Sandrovich, was good-quality entertainment. Love literally leapt out from the silver screen into the dull life of the heroine,enveloping the audience in a blissful comedy through its witty devel072

opment and directing. Sandrovich also displayed his skills with his
staging of August: Osage County by the American playwright Tracy
Letts. Mitani Kōki has enjoyed acclaim for scripting the Taiga period
drama series Sanada Maru broadcast on NHK, and at the end of theyear he also wrote, directed and starred in Enokeso Ichidaiki. In thelead, Ichikawa Ennosuke vibrantly embodied the joy and sadness yet
also madness of a man who tries to become the popular comic star
Enoken (Enomoto Kenichi).
The visual artist Yanagi Miwa has also worked in the theatre forsome time and this year she directed and designed a stage adaptationof Nakagami Kenji’s novel Wings of the Sun (Nichirin no tsubasa),
working from a script by Yamasaki Nashi. A specially made trailer
was loaded with a cargo container, which opened up to reveal a stage
with a gaudy picture and illuminations. This trailer then toured
Yokohama, Wakayama and elsewhere. Shimori Roba wrote anddirected Okinawa 1972, which energetically depicted the titular prefecture as it turbulently reverted back to Japanese sovereignty.
Setagaya Public Theatre gave us some colorful productions of
new plays in Radiant Vermin, written by Philip Ridley and directedby Shirai Akira, and Tono Monogatari Kikkai Part 3 (Tōno monogatarikikkai sonosan), written and directed by Maekawa Tomohiro.
Among the shingeki companies, Bungakuza showed stability in
its output. In particular, its younger directors Inaba Kae and GonoheMarie left particularly fresh impressions with their respective productions of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck and Kubota Mantarō’s Rudder (Kaji).
Gekidan Mingei actively engaged with staging new productions,
including Tennessee Williams’ The Two-Character Play (also known as
Out Cry) with Naraoka Tomoko and guest performer Okamoto
Kenichi, and Osada Ikue’s Sōetsu: White Sun of Korea (SOETSU,
karakuni no shiroki taiyō), both directed with Tanno Ikumi, and073

Awful (Berabō), written and directed by Nakatsuru Akihito. Gekidan
Subaru welcomed Bungakuza’s Kamimura Satoshi to direct a production of The Greeks, an epic trilogy of plays lasting around eight hours
and bringing together ten Greek tragedies. Theatrical group En’s
Hashizume Isao starred in Kagekiyo, adapted by Fujino Satsuko from
Chikamatsu Monzaemon, giving a performance of great dignity inthe role of an old warlord narrating the vicissitudes of his life. Director Mori Shintarō’s deftly staged the play with a giant puppet that theactor controlled.

Expectations for New Leaders
In April, Shirai Akira became the new artistic director of
Kanagawa Arts Theatre. With his productions of Strindberg’s A
Dream Play and Brecht’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, heTheatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CONTEMPORARY THEATRE

incorporated vibrant elements of music, stage design and dance toshow the appeal of theatre as Gesamtkunstwerk. His proactive
approach to using the whole of the theatre facility is notable, such as
the production of Roots (Rūtsu), written by Matsui Shū and directedby Sugihara Kunio, and working with young theatre companies.
The New National Theatre, Tokyo announced the next artistic
director, Ogawa Eriko, starting in 2018. There are high expectations
for this director in her thirties, who is known for her graceful staging
and is also a prolific translator. In 2016, she directed Michael Frayn’s
Copenhagen and her translations of Landscape with Weapon and Take
Me Out met great acclaim.
Notwithstanding the quality of some of its productions, such as
the revival of a trilogy by Chong Wishin, including Yakiniku Dragon(Yakiniku doragon), and Uyama Hitoshi’s staging of the Shakespeare074

history plays Henry IV Part 1 and Henry IV Part 2, the only premiereof a work by a Japanese playwright staged by the New National
Theatre, Tokyo was Betsuyaku Minoru’s Moon Like This, Wind LikeThat (Tsuki kōkō, kaze sōsō), directed by Miyata Keiko. The theatre’s
programming has lacked ambitious work.
In March, Kōkami Shōji became the new chair of the Japan Playwrights Association, following Sakate Yōji’s ten years in the role.
The annual international performing arts event Festival/Tokyo
was held between October and December on the theme of “Beyond
Borders.” It included many overseas productions, such as the overfour-hour Woodcutters, directed by Poland’s Krystian Lupa. One ofthe visiting productions, All the Soldiers are Pathetic, was written anddirected by Park Kun-hyung, who attracted attention after he wasblacklisted from receiving national subsidies for satirizing the former
president in a previous play. This issue was also put on the stage by

the Korean theatre group Dreamplay These21 and performed at Ueno
Storehouse in November as part of a week of Japanese and Korean
theatre. Kim Jae-yeop’s Censorship: Their Words conveyed facts in an
indifferent manner while also expressing anger toward the authorities
that intervene in artistic expression and freedom of speech, but its
tone had a suppressed yet gentle humor. One could not help but
empathize with the tough, mature spirit of Korean theatre practitioners, who are opposing these inexcusable events through their intellectand art.
In Kyoto, a new cultural hub opened in January in the form of
ROHM Theatre Kyoto, which is the main venue for the international
performing arts festival Kyoto Experiment. In Tokyo, Shibuya’s Parco
Theater closed in August for reconstruction, having served as a centerof the city’s culture since opening in 1973. Although it will reopen in2019 as a larger space, many theatre people and audiences regret the075

loss of its intimate 458-seat auditorium.
Hakusuisha, the publisher that organizes the Kishida Kunio
Drama Award, commemorated its 100th anniversary by publishing a
mammoth encyclopedia detailing around 1,000 playwrights and theirmajor plays from the early Meiji period (1868–1912) to the present day.
Yamaguchi, Hiroko
Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun. Born in 1960, she graduated from the
Department of Science at Ochanomizu University. In 1983, she joined the Asahi
Shimbun newspaper, working at its Tokyo and west Japan (Fukuoka) branches,and Osaka head office. She worked mainly as a reviewer and reporter on culturalnews, in particular for theatre. She has served on the paper’s editorial board andas an editorialist. She co-wrote Ninagawa Yukio’s Work (Shinchōsha).
(Translation: William Andrews)

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CHILDREN’S and YOUTH THEATRE and PUPPET THEATRE

Children’s and Youth Theatre andPuppet Theatre
Working for Unity by Organizing TYA Japan
Yokomizo Yukiko
Theatre for children and youth, including puppet theatre, has beenheavily affected by the reduced numbers of children in Japan. Theatre
performances in schools had been a regular event in the Tokyo region,
but now only 50% of schools are continuing with it. It is difficult
to measure the success of emotional and aesthetic education, so
schools are emphasizing such academic abilities where results can beseen immediately.
076

With the reduction of classes and events in schools relating to theperforming arts, children’s theatre troupes are seeing a drastic
decrease in the number of performances and are finding it more andmore difficult to operate. This means a lack of support for young
playwrights and plays that can indicate what the future will be. Thisvicious cycle is repeated over and over. It is a very difficult situationand children’s theatre cannot survive on passion alone.
There is also a new government policy that will impact all performing groups, not just children’s theatre. On March 22, the government issued its plan to move government agencies out of Tokyo.
This is to try to reduce the over centralization of government agencies in Tokyo, but the government is insisting on moving the entire
Japanese Cultural Agency to Kyoto. In response to this, the “Cultural
Promotion Forum” (Nomura Man, Chairman) put up a protest on
September 2. It suggested that while the accounting sections of theCultural Agency could be moved to Kyoto, “functions that are closely
related to supporting artistic and cultural activities and managing
copywriting issues” should remain in Tokyo as before. Also, withthe slogan of “Cultural Ministry by the Year of the Olympics, “ itstrongly recommended that in order for Japan to become a truly
cultural and artistic nation, the Cultural Agency should be its own
ministry, rather than being a part of the Ministry of Education andScience as it is now.
To prepare for making a bid for making Tokyo the venue for thetwentieth world conference of ASSITEJ (International Association
Theatre for Children and Young People), which is held once every
three year and is scheduled for May 2020, six children’s theatre
troupes united in the “TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences) Japan” on
077

April 7. The six troupes included Jienkyō (the Nihon Jidō Seishōnen
Engeki Kyōdō Kumiai or Japan Union of Theatrical Companies forChildren and Young People), Seionkyō (the Nihon Seishōnen Ongaku
Geino Kyōkai or NPO Japan Music and Entertaiments for Youth
Association), Zenninkyō (the Zenkoku Senmon Ningyō Gekidan
Kyōgikai or Japan Puppet Theater Conrerence), the Nihon Jid ō
Seishōnen Engeki Kyōkai (Japan Association of Theatre for Children
and Young People), Zenjien (the Zenkoku Jid ō Seishonen Engeki
Kyōgikai or All Japan Children and Youth Theatre Association) andthe Japan center of ASSITEJ. TYA Japan will become a seventh groupand will aim at including a wide range of individual members withnot only artists in children’s and youth theatre, but also dancers andtraditional Japanese performers. It plans to send 100 people to participate in the 19th ASSITEJ World Conference, which will be held in
May 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa and who will work for the

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CHILDREN’S and YOUTH THEATRE and PUPPET THEATRE

success of Tokyo’s bid to host the twentieth world conference.
As a pre-event to the world conference, TYA Japan is making
preparations to hold the “Asia Children and Youth Stage Arts Festival
2018” centered at the Youth Education National Olympics Memorial
Youth Center and with performance in schools around Tokyo in
February 2018. In addition there are plans for an “Asia Children andYouth Stage Arts Conference.”
An arts festival that began in 2016 in Beijing and rotates aroundthe three countries of Japan, China and South Korea will also be heldin Japan in February 2018.
There are theatre festivals all around the country in summer andthis is energizing for the many children’s theatre and puppet theatre
troupes that participate. The “Summer Vacation Children and Youth
078

Theatre Festival” (July 21 – August 4, Tokyo Zenrōsai Hall and Puk
Puppet Theatre) sponsored by Jienkyō was held for the forty-fourth
time. There were 21 theatre troupes from Gekidan Haiky ō’s“Mischievous Musical Experience: Slowly Resolving (Itazura Bōken
Musical: Kaiketsu Zorori)” to Puppet Theatre Puk’s “The Daruma
and the Tengu Goblin (Daruma-chan to Tengu-chan).” There were also
workshops like “Theatre Experience for Parents and Children
Together (Oyako de Issho ni Gekitaiken)” (Gekidan Kaze no Ko), and“Let’s Become Clowns! (Piero ni Narō)” (Gekidan Han Mime Kōbō)
and there were 5,000 participants.
The “Forum for Children to Encounter the Stage Arts (Kodomo
to Butai Geijutsu Deai Fo-ramu)” (National Memorial Olympic
Children and Youth Center: July 28 – August 3) is in its 17th year. In
2016, there were 35 works to introduce children to the joy of live
theatre, including “Japanese Dance Looks Great!” organized byclassical Japanese dancers, which showed pure dances in formal
kimono together with lectures. The “Puppet Theatre Gallery (NingyōGeki Gyarari–)” featured junior high school students performing“Awaji Bunraku (Awaji Ningyō Jōruri )” and exhibits and performances by Puppet Theatre PUK, Puppet Theater Hitomi-za,
Hipopotaamu, Kai-no-Hi and Edo Ito Ayatsuri Ningyō marionettes.
To help expand the imaginative world for children, the “ArtExperience Square (A–to Taiken Hiroba) featured ballet, rakugo storytelling, pantomime and magic. There were also five symposiums onsuch topics as “Towards Thinking About the Significance of Theatre
Aimed at Infants” and “What Will Be the Meaning of Theatre
Performances in Schools in the Future?” These events attracted morethan 10,000 participants.
The “Nissei Theatre Family Festival (Nissei Gekijō Famiri–Fesutivaru)” is in its 21st year. There were 4 pieces to show solid live

079

stage performances in a gorgeous theatre. The classical concert“Alice’s Big Music Composition Campaign (Arisu no Sakkyoku
Daisakusen)” was a participatory that combined composing methods
and musical performance with an adventure story. Hitomi-za presented a puppet musical from the “I am the King (Boku wa Ōsama)”series: “King of Detectives (Ōsama・Meitantei).” The musical “TheThree Musketeers (Sanjūshi)” featured a very talented and experiences cast: Onoda Ryūnosuke as d’Artagnan, Kon Takuya as Athos,Nadagi Takeshi as Porthos and Uehara Rio as Aramis. The cast wasso fine that it was a shame there were only five performances overthree days (August 6 – 8). The performances of “The Nutcracker(Kurumiwari Ningyō)” by the Matsuyama Ballet Company featured
Morishita Yōko.
There were many summer theatre festivals originating in the

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CHILDREN’S and YOUTH THEATRE and PUPPET THEATRE

rural regions of Japan. The 17th “21st Century Theatre from Kitakata”(August 5 – 8) has become established as a large-scale summer event. It
had 24 venues centered on Kitakata Plaza and including public halls,
public health centers and sake breweries. There were 81 separate
pieces with 115 performances. Theatre productions included Gekidan
Kazenoko’s “Bearcub Woof (Kuma no Ko U–fu)” and Gekidan Urinko
Theatre Company’s “Friends! He’s a Friend Too! (Tomodachi ya–Aitsu mo Tomodachi–)” and there were many puppet troupes participating like Puk with “The Happy Violin (Ukare Baiorin)”, attracting a
total audience of 8,814.
The city of Saku in Nagano Prefecture started a new theatre festival for children and youth titled “Kid’s Circuit in Saku (Kizzu
Sa–kitto in Saku)” (August 5 – 7) in 2016. There were altogether eightvenues, with the Cosmo Hall in Ueda City (Nagano prefecture) as the080

main venue along with the Sakudaira Kōryū Center. There were 22
pieces each performed, including Masuku Purei no Theatre Company
Hikōsen’s musical “Little Red Riding Hood (Akazukin)” with all characters in full body suits, Gekidan Chōjū Giga’s “Shakespeare forThree (Sannin de Sheikusupia)” and Puk’s “The Pink Dragon (Pinku
no Doragon)” for a total audience of 5,000.
The “World Festival of Children’s Performing Arts in Toyama”(July 30 – August 4), which is held once every four years, was held
for the 3rd time. There were participants from 25 local groups, 44
groups from Toyama Prefecture, 16 groups from outside Toyama
Prefecture and 23 groups from abroad, and a total of over 1500 children participated.
The “Regional Tour of Children’s and Youth Theatre ( Jid ō
Seishō nen Engeki Chihō Junkai Kō en)” sponsored by the Japan
Children and Youth Theatre Association (Nihon Jidō Seishōnen

Engeki Kyōkai), which is intended for children living outside the big
cities, was held for the 57th year. In the spring, 7 troupes, including
Enzeru and Popura, and in the fall, 13 troupes, including Nakama
and Yūgensha, toured. The “Tour of Children’s and Youth Stage Arts
(Jidō Seishōnen Butai Geijutsu Junkai Kōen)” of the rural areas andremote islands that is part of the “Strategic Project for the
Encouragement of the Creation of Artistic Culture (Senryaku-teki
Geijutsu Bunka Sōzō Suishin Jigyō)” sponsored by the Japanese
National Cultural Agency is in its third year. 13 troupes participatedincluding Urinko and Ningyō Gekidan Kyougei.
Among large international theatre festivals, the “Rikka Rikka＊ Festa” (July 25 – 31) held in Naha City has grown into a festivalthat can send performances of children’s theatre to Asia and theworld. There were 15 pieces from 10 countries, including Sweden
081

and Belgium, and among the 15 pieces performed by Japanese
troupes, 4, including “Les Miserables (Re Miseraburu)” were performed by ACO Okinawa.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre (Tokyo Geijutsu Gekijō)’s 7th“TACT / Festival 2016” (May 5 – 8) is a festival that invites highquality performances from outside Japan. This year, there were 5
pieces from 3 countries, France, Brazil and Canada. Among them,
Canada’s “The Sheep (Les Moutons),” is already a frequent visitor andalso appeared at the “Rikka Rikka ＊ Festa.” France’s Cie Les Gums’s“Stoik” attracted laughter with the unbalance between a very large
actor and very small actress.
Since 1959, Gekidan Nakama has presented Samuil Marshak’s“The Woods are Alive (Mori wa Ikite Iru) (original title: The Twelve
Months)” at the end of every year. This year, they reached the recordof 2,087 performances (Kinokuniya Southern Theatre, Tokyo,

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CHILDREN’S and YOUTH THEATRE and PUPPET THEATRE

December 21 – 27, 2016) altogether.
In Japan there are innumerable puppet theatre troupes, bothamateur and professional troupes, some with many members, andsome with only two or three members. The major puppet theatre
troupes like Puk, La Clarté and Hitomi-za have struggled withextreme financial difficulties to continue to create high quality puppet
theatre for young audiences.
Puppet Theatre Puk celebrated its 45th year and with its own
theatre as home base, it staged 28 different pieces, with two or threegroups touring the country in 2016. There were 399 days of performances, 494 performances in total, staged by a company of 77 people
working full time. There were 2 new works produced as well. One082

for children, “The Emperor’s New Clothes (Hadaka no Ōsama)”(original by Hans Christian Andersen, which was dramatized by
Kawajiri Tōji and directed by Miyao Yoshiaki, and one for adults,
which was a dramatization of the classic Rakugo story “The God of
Death (Shinigami)”, dramatized and directed by Shibasaki Yoshihiko.
Especially the puppet design of the God of Death was very innovative The most frequently performed piece was “A Story I Heard
from the Mist and the Wind (Kiri to Kaze kara Kiita Hanashi)”based on the children’s story by Miyazawa Kenji, together with “TheHappy Violin (Ukare Baiorin),” which was performed 103 times
during the year. Among pieces for adults, “The Miser with a Pot ofGold and the Negotiations of Love (Kana Tsubo Oyaji Koi no
Tatehiki)” by Inoue Hisashi was particularly popular and has been
performed repeatedly. “Torchfire in December (Jūni no Tsuki no
Takibi),” based on a folk tale from Slovakia, has been performed
every December since 1979. This is a fantasy that helps everyone towelcome in the New Year on a happy note.
The Credo Theatre troupe from Bulgaria visited Japan again.
They performed Gogol’s “The Overcoat (Gaitō)” and Andersen’s“Father’s Always Right (Otōsan no suru koto wa Itsumo Yoshi )” at the
Puk Theater on September 25 and 27.
Hitomi-za, which is using the puppeteering technique of a single
puppeteer maneuvering the puppets, called “Otome Bunraku”, used
the stage direction of lead Bunraku puppeteer Kiritake Kanjūrō totake on the challenge of producing two classical plays, “The Japanese
Twenty-Four Examples of Filial Piety (Honchō Nijūshi Kō)” and “TheMoney Courier of Love (Keisei Koi Bikyaku).” The Edo Ito Ayatsuri(marionette) Yū ki-za collaborated with the Vietnam Children’s
Theatre to create “Wild Duck Addiction (Nogamo Chūdoku)” (March
16 – 21, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Theatre West). This was an
083

experimental play written and directed by Sakate Yōji and was basedon “The Wild Duck” by Ibsen.
The biggest event for puppet theatre is the “Iida Puppet Theatre
Festa 2016 (Iida Ningyō Geki Festa 2016 )” (August 2 – 7), which had
257 theatre troupes including amateurs and professionals, and staged
500 performances. There are all kinds of venues used throughout Iida
City (Nagano Prefecture). In 2016, the theme was “Kansai Puppet
Theatre.” The Kyōgei puppet theatre troupe had been awarded a prize
for revitalizing a region and commemorated it with a performance of“I’m Going to Become a Manzai Star (Manzai no Hoshi ni Narun ya)”
(Iida Bunka Kaikan Hall). To support the recovery efforts from the
Kumamoto Earthquake, the Seiwa Bunraku Troupe was invited fromits home base in Yamato Town, Kamimashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture.
There were troupes from 6 countries, including Germany and Laos.

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CHILDREN’S and YOUTH THEATRE and PUPPET THEATREThe UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionnette) gathering is held once every 4 years, the 22st UNIMA Congress (May 28 –June 5) and the World Puppetry Festival” were held in Tolosa and San
Sebastien in Spain. Puk’s Onagi Tamiko gave the report of thewomen’s committee. 32 theatre troupes from 15 countries participated, and from Japan, the Kakashi-za performed.
Although it is very difficult to make a choice, here are my picks
for the best three in children’s and youth theatre in 2016:
Gekidan Urinko Theatre Company’s “The Dawning of Rakugo(Yoake no Rakugo)” (original by Miura Karen, script and direction by
Kitamura Naoki) was a heart-warming play that showed fourth grade
girls trying to learn traditional rakugo comic storytelling as they084

struggle on despite difficulties and failures. The story was depictedwith a lot of humor and the ensemble featured actors in their twenties
to actors in their sixties.
In Japanese, a little character “tsu” after a syllable doubles theconsonant. This became the theme of Gekidan Nakama’s “The Day
All the Little ‘Tsu’s Disappeared (Chiisai ‘Tsu’ ga Kieta Hi)” (original
by Stefano von Loe, script and direction by Suzuki Yūta). This story
has the fantastic premise of all the turmoil in society if the little tsu’s
used in writing Japanese suddenly disappeared. The production
included song and dance to make a play that could be enjoyed by bothchildren and adults. It was a play that left a strong impression eventhough it did not emphasize its message.
Theatre Tanpopo’s “The Festival of Life (Inochi no Matsuri)”(dramatized by Kuno Yumi and Matsushita Noriko, production
supervised by Fujita Asaya and directed by Ōtani Kenjirō) was a playcommemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the troupeand featured the work of two young playwrights. Ō tani studied
directing in America and deftly introduced a collaboration withpuppets into the production and puppet techniques to create a newand simple world.
The O Fujin Prize for Children and Youth Theatre is given to afemale theatre professional for long time contribution to children
and youth theatre and the 26th prize was awarded to Theater
February’s Nitta Megumi. She was awarded the prize for her work as
an actress and for simultaneously handling the business end of thetroupe and also working contributing to the improvement of children’s theatre overall.
085

Yokomizo, Yukiko
Yokomizo Yukiko is a theatre critic and regular director of the Japan Theatre
Association, member of Tomin Gekijō series evaluation committee, andmember of Kabuki Circle Productions. After being an editorial executive at the
Jiji Tsūshin communications company, she has been a judge for the arts festival
sponsored by the Japanese National Cultural Agency, a member of the theatrecommittee of the Geijutsu Bunka Shinkō Kikin (Arts Culture Foundation) and alecturer in the Arts Division of Nihon Daigaku University. She is a member of the
Buyō Hihyōka Kyōkai (Dance Critics Association), Saitama Bungeika Kyōkai(Saitama Prefecture Writer’s Association) and the Kokusai Engeki Kyōkai(International Theatre Institute). Her published translations include Practical
Stage Make-Up (joint translation) and her books include Actors Talk of What They
Dream of Doing (Yume o Kataru Yakusha-tachi).
(Translation : Mark Oshima)

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

JAPANESE CLASSICAL DANCEJapanese Classical Dance
It’s Time to Reevaluate Nihon Buyōfrom the Standpoint of What is Ordinary andExtraordinary in the Past and Present
Hirano Hidetoshi
Books on Japanese traditional performing arts often have not thought
carefully about the essence of the arts they present. This is because
Japan has conducted a policy of Westernizing and modernizing eversince the Meiji Restoration in 1868, and in addition to that, the accelerating globalization since the 1970’s, has led to that most Japanese
think traditional dance styles are basically similar Western styles of086

dance. One reason is that the English word “dance” is the most familiar word for such Western styles as ballet, educational dance andstreet dance. So it is easy to think that Western dance =buyō (Japaneseclassical dance), but that is not true, and now it is vital to correct thismisapprehension, and think about what buyō fundamentally is.
The word “buyō” was invented in the Meiji Period, by theater
scholar and translator Tsubouchi Shōyō. The reason he coined thisword was to be able to discuss two forms of early modern period
dance, each with roots that go far into the past, but cannot be totally
separated. These styles are “mai (which can also be pronounced ‘bu’)”which was typical of the Kamigata region around Osaka and Kyoto,and “odori (also prounounced ‘yō’)”, which was typical in Edo (nowTokyo). Shōyō simply combined these two characters and suggested
the use of the word buyō or buyō geki (dance play). But in the processof establishing this word, the word buy ō also came to be thetranslation of the Western word “dance” referring to Western dancestyles, so the term “Nihon buyō” was invented to refer to purely
Japanese styles. But originally, buyō only meant Japanese classicaldance, comprised of the more or less different styles of mai and odori.
＊

One-Hundredth Anniversary of the Shin Buyō Recital,“Fujikage-Kai”.
One hundred years have passed since a geisha in the Shinbashi
district in Tokyo named Yaeji, who was a holder of the Fujima School
dance name Fujima Shizue (later Fujikage Seiju I), held the first“Fujikage-Kai” recital at Tokiwagi Club (Nihonbashi) to mark her
independence as a dancer in May 1917.
In the “Sōke Fujikage-Kai Recital Commemorating the 100th087

Anniversary Since the Founding of the Fujikage School of Dance”(August 20, National Theater) Fujikage Seiju III, the nephew’s daughter of the first Fujikage Seiju, recreated a representative dance of Seiju
I, “Shibon,” an adaptation of a famous Chinese Kunqu opera about a
Buddhist nun who starts to feel strong emotions and desires thatmake her abandon the temple. “Shibon” is an epoch-making piececreated by Shizue I in 1921 as a way of experimenting with new techniques of dance expression. To mark the hundredth anniversary of the
Fujikage school, the dance was reworked to fit the stage space of the
National Theater and the music recomposed in the nagauta style. The
original lyrics were by Takeshiba Shinkichi (Hirayama Shinkichi) andMaehara Kazuhiko created additional material for the revival anddirected the production. The music for the original was very ambitious, with traditional musicians seeking to create new possibilities for

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

JAPANESE CLASSICAL DANCE

traditional styles of music. These musicians were Sugano Ginpei(Nishiyama Ginpei) of the Itchū school of shamisen and singing andOchiai Yasue of the Yamada school of koto music. To this original
cast, nagauta musician Kineya Hiroki provided additional music. The
music was arranged by Kineya Katsuhiko and also percussion music
created by Nakamura Jukei was incorporated into the performance.
In the program for this revival Maehara wrote that “when she
created the piece, Shizue I overlapped her memories of her own youth
into the feelings of the protagonist.” Maehara reevaluated this piecefrom a contemporary standpoint and created this revival. The factthat the role of the young nun was played by Shizue III, head of the
Fujikage-Kai, was also significant from the standpoint of looking
back at this significant piece. Her three granddaughters Uchida Sakie,
Moeka and Emiyu danced and her daughter Fujikage Shizuaki danced088

the role of the Rakan priests. Maehara also enhanced the drama byadding a scene in the second half, where, after the man and woman
having seen their fantasy of love, return to reality as they are, and aresent to the “Burning House of Five Mortal Conditions.”

Death of Hanayagi Shigeka on September 10th,
Presentation of Her Trademark Dance “Gen-ya”
In Fujima Shizue’s birth as a “Nihon buyō” dancer, the fact that
noted Western style painter Wada Eisaku was a part of the set design
staff for the “Fujikage-Kai”, played a large role. Such staff members as
Wada’s student Tanaka Ryō and Tōyama Shizuō, who later became alighting designer, studied the innovations in dance made by kabuki
actors Ichikawa Ennosuke II and Onoe Kikugor ō VI and long
worked to create “shin buyō (New Japanese Dance)” or “sōsaku buyō(Creative Japanese Dance).” As practical artists, this line of effort wasvery different from the work of the intellectuals and critics in
Tsubouchi Shōyō’s “buyō kaikaku (dance reform).”
Hanayagi Shigeka was one of the people to emerge in the “ShinBuyō” movement. She was guided by Tanaka Ryō, Tōyama Shizuō
and lyricist and critic Katori Sennosuke. She created a very unusual
method with her very individual sense of music, incorporating traditional techniques into Western techniques of breathing and timing
and highlighting the beauty of a woman wearing a kimono. Her distinctive peace “Gen-ya (The Plain),” was danced by Nishikawa Yūkofrom the Sōke Nishikawa school of dance at her “Yūko no Kai”
(November 1, National Theater Small Hall). The piece takes thetheme of a fox in the fields of northern Japan, a theme that still
remains vibrant in the deep level of the Japanese psyche. The imposing figure of human desire and redemption were splendidly recreated089

in the standing poses and sharply dynamic movements of the dance.

Connecting Urban and Rural Regions:
A Recital Commemorating the 7th Anniversary of
the Death of Hata Michiyo
Kabuki actor Onoe Kikugor ō VI learned from the kind of“buyō kaikaku” of his teacher Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and the female
writer Hasegawa Shigure. Kikugoro famously danced “Inyō (Yin andYang)” to music composed by Hirota Ryūtarō at the “Tōei-Kai” shinbuyō recital for young kabuki actors. At the time, Kodera Yūkichi,
a student of Tsubouchi Shōyō criticized this pairing of buyō andWestern-style music as “a reckless effort with no knowledge of thehistory and regional culture from which Western music developed.”
In 1922, Kodera expanded on Shōyō’s “Shin Gakugeki Ron (A Theory
of New Musical Theater)” in his “Kindai Buyōshi Ron (A Theory of
Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

JAPANESE CLASSICAL DANCE

Modern buyō History).” Kodera argued that what was necessary forthe spiritual support of the regions of Japan in modern times could befound by investigating the folk performances of the regions that transcended age and physical barriers and explored them going from thepresent backwards in time. Kodera’s criticism of the easy collaborationof Western music and Nihon buyō was probably based on his idea thatthe source of artistic creation needed to be rooted in what for him wasthe core of the identity of a region, its life style and local culture.
After the Great Kanto Earthquake, Onoe Kikutarō, a former
student of Kikugor ō VI, succeeded as the second head of the
Hanayagi school of classic dance as Hanayagi Jusuke II. In 1924, heestablished the “Hanayagi Buyō Kenkyū Kai (Hanayagi buyō Study
Group)” and also, together with his brother-in-law Hanayagi Tokutarō
worked with all the members of the Hanayagi school to send dance090

teachers to geisha districts throughout Japan to spread out the cultureof buyō from where it had been centered in Tokyo to the regions ofJapan, thus through the artistic management of the Hanayagi school
connect Tokyo and the culture of the rural regions. Other dance
schools followed suit and the classical schools like Wakayagi andFujima and then the Shin Buyō schools did the same and eventuallybuyō culture expanded to every part of Japan. Two of Kikugorō VI’s
students, Onoe Shigeru and Onoe Kotojirō, studied buyō with Fujima
Kanjū r ō VI. Eventually Shigeru became the second head of the
Nishikawa school in Nagoya under the name Nishikawa Koisaburō
II. Kotojirō took the name Onoe Kikunojō and became the head of
the Onoe school, a dance school founded by Kikugorō VI himself. In
this way, the teachings of Kikugorō VI, which were the spiritualsupport of the culture of a modernizing Tokyo, spread to all thegeisha districts of Japan and led to the flourishing of the many schools

of Nihon Buyō established in the Showa period.
However, the popularity in the Taisho period of dances for children done to newly created dōyō songs for children, marked a decisive
break from the traditional way of teaching dance to children goingback to the Edo period. In the old days, instead of dances specificallymeant for children, the schools of dance used simple dances originallycreated for adult dancers. Probably this change is connected to theemergence of shin buyō. The traditional dance world did not understand that educating children in physical expression had to be thecore of artistic creation. The dancer Onoe Kikunori who had studied
dance with an Onoe school teacher and who is better known under
his real name of Hata Michiyo organized the “Japanese Traditional
Dance Troupe Kikunokai (Chrysanthemum Recital)” and for educating children in physical expression not only used the traditional
beginners’ dances of Nihon buyō, he had them study regional folk

091

dance and music. This is none other than a merging of the two waysof tying together Tokyo and the rural regions according to the ideasof Kikugorō VI and Kodera. By creating works based on regional folk
performances and presenting them as examples of Japanese culture
both in Japan and abroad, the achievements of the Kikunokai arevery many. They include works like the Japanese-style dance drama“Katcha Yukanu ka Kono Michi o” (written and directed by Misumi
Haruo, first performed in 1978) which was based on observation of
the “Oni Kenbai (Demon Sword Dance)” preserved in the Kitakami
region of Iwate Prefecture. It is heartening that Hata’s work wasremembered this year in such performances as “Nihon no Odori (The
Dance of Japan)” (August 26, Asakusa Kōkaidō), a performance by
the Kikunokai commemorating the 7th anniversary of Hata’s deathand performances by the Kikunokai in Sri Lanka (November 2 – 8).

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

JAPANESE CLASSICAL DANCE

buyō as Ordinary and Extraordinary Activity
One thing that is notable about the buyō, which expresses thehearts of the Japanese people, which is the core of Hata’s expression,is that it is very different in the big cities and in the rural regions.
The Suito Edo Bunka Isanjuku Jikkō Iinkai (Committee for the
Study of Cultural Heritages of the Water Capital Edo) reconstructed
dances that were performed at the Kanda Festival and performed
them in the framework of project called “Edo no Sairei to Geinō(Festivals and Performances in Edo)” in 2015 with the support of theJapanese cultural agency (November 12, Main Hall of the Kanda
Shrine). What was most striking were the processions and performances of the graduate students from the University of Tokyo
Cultural Resources department. Their everyday bodies were transformed into something extraordinary and seemed to sparkle. There092

was a visible difference from the dances of the professional Nihonbuyō dancers who were enlisted to do the reconstructed dances. This
probably comes from the difference between the techniques of dance
expression of amateurs and professionals. The graduate students
worked on reconstructing the Kanda Festival as part of their ordinary
studies, but when the actual performance came, they wore ceremonial
festival costumes and with the presentation at the shrine of these
extraordinary processions and performances dedicated to the gods,
their bodies became empty vessels and this is why they seemed tosparkle. This is very different from the way that Nihon buyō dances
view the ordinary and the extraordinary.
The reality of Nihon buyō lessons is that it is no longer a common
part of the lives of ordinary people. The daily life of buyō lessons
almost exclusively a training ground for professional dancers and theperspective of amateurs has disappeared. Once buyō lessons were anormal part of people’s lives less for the dances themselves than as away to learn to wear kimono properly, etiquette and deportment andemotional education. Even the wearing of kimono has become an
extraordinary experience for most Japanese people today and thedomination of the iemoto or heads of schools means that the course to
becoming a professional is fixed. It is worth carefully examining towhat extent the world view of these professional supports of the classics and traditional performing arts actually contributed to the reconstruction of the Kanda Festival.

50 Years of buyō at the National Theater
When it opened in 1966, the National Theater began by presenting a commemorative recital, “Tōzai Kaomise Buyō (Face Showing ofTop buyō Dancers from the East and West of Japan).” The National
Theater began with the type of performances and definition of buyō

093

held at the time by Shadan Hōjin Nihon Buyō Kyōkai (JapaneseClassical Dance Association). With that mindset, the National
Theater has produced a great variety of performances of buyō, including “kabuki buyō,” “Kamigata mai,” “su-odori (dance in formal kimono
rather than stage costume),” and also newly composed dances andlecture-demonstrations.
However, it has not considered buyō as it actually is in modern
times for the Japanese people, a thought Kodera Yūkichi found to be
so important. On the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary, it might beworth looking more closely at the rich range of dance culture in
Japan. The New National Theater opened in 1997, but the only performances of dance there are ballet and contemporary dance. It
ignores the buyō culture with deeper roots in this country. The government should rethink what Japanese dance is related to the histori-

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

JAPANESE CLASSICAL DANCE

cal and cultural conditions throughout the country.
In the dances to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
National Theater, two striking performances by professional buyō
dancers, “Yakko Dōjōji (Male Dōjōji)” by Hanayagi Motoi (September 10, Large Hall of the National Theater) and “Kigisu” by Inoue
Yachiyo (November 26, Large Hall of the National Theater) can be
mentioned. To that, dances for banquets in geisha district performedby two currently active geisha, “Izaya Sumiyoshi” by Umemoto Baiei(November 26, Small Hall of the National Theater) and “Kiku no
Tsuyu (Chrysanthemum Dew)” by Inoue Mametsuru (November 27,
Small Hall of the National Theater) were impressive. All of these gave
the impression of the true art of physical expression.

Topics094

There were three recitals of dance in memory of three Living
National Treasures. One commemorated the 27th anniversary of thedeath of Fujima Kanso II (September 26 and 27, Kabuki-za), the“Jakuseikai” (May 8, Large Hall of the National Theater) was inmemory of Nakamura Shikan and one was a recital of Ky ōmai(December 18, Rome Theater Kyoto South Hall) in commemorationof the 13th anniversary of the death of Inoue Aiko (Inoue Yachiyo
IV). These performances commemorated consummate artists in fieldsof buyō with strong connections to the world of kabuki or the worldof Kyoto geiko and maiko. They were like festivals of the classicalschools of buyō and were shining performances as far from the daily
world as could possibly be imagined.
At the same time, even though the shin buyō movement grew outof the awakening to the thoughts and feeling of the individual in the
Taisho and early Showa periods, and produced many great artists thatpresented their work in individually sponsored recitals, by the first
decade of the 21st century, shin buyō became totally separated fromthe lives of ordinary people and only survives now as one of thegenres of traditional performing arts. The extraordinary occasion of
the recital has lost its excitement.
In his recital “Sonokisuke Tsukuru Odoru: Henge Buyō no
Miryoku (Sonokisuke Creates and Dances: The Charm of Henge
Transformation Dances,” Hanayagi Sonokisuke performed all of thedances in “Osozakura Teniha no Nanamoji (Late Cherry Blossoms inSeven Letters),” a kabuki dance where originally one actor appearedin all seven characters appearing in the piece, changing fast from one
character to another. He deserves a prize for effort, first for a buyō
dancer trying to recreate the charm of this late Edo period genre ofkabuki dance and also for his stance of research. It is a shame that
there was not a bit more of the aesthetic spirit of kabuki. In the last095

dance “Shu Shōki (Red Shōki, the Demon Queller),” everything isrevealed to be just the dream of a courtesan, returning to the settingof the first dance. This lacks the power of devices like yatsushi, wherea character disguises his or her essence, or mi-arawashi, where acharacter reveals his or her essence and also was not quite in keepingwith the original spirit of these transformation dances. But his efforts
were rewarded and Sonokisuke received the prize for excellence inthe annual arts festival sponsored by the Japanese National Cultural
Agency, along with Wakayagi Ginsai, who won the prize for excellence in the Kansai division.
In 2016, Fujima Rankō won the Select Prize awarded by the
National Cultural Agency and he staged “Nobunaga” which took as
its theme his first meeting with the ballet dancers Farukh Ruzimotov
and Iwata Morihiro. In recent years, it has become very popular for

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

JAPANESE CLASSICAL DANCE

the buyō world to stage collaborations like this, showing the meetingof Western and Japanese styles. To do this, it is really necessary tothink carefully about the essence of the two styles. Otherwise it may
actually be counterproductive to the goal of new artistic creation.
If you define Nihon buyō very broadly, then the performance of“Rakuami Shō” (Kawase Junsuke no Kai, November 9, National Noh
Theater) was interesting as buyō. This was based on a section of theclassical noh play “Rakuami” where the main character is a shakuhachi player. The performance took the interlude in the middle of theplay, which is usually performed by kyogen actors, and made it into aseparate play. The play was arranged by kyogen actor Zenchiku Jūrōand scholar Tanaka Hideki and the shakuhachi music was composedby Kawase Junsuke. It showed the ghost of the shakuhachi player
Rakuami, combining noh-style chanting, narrative singing and shaku096

hachi music. The kyogen actor became a splendid Nihon buyō dancer.
Also in 2016, the Yokohama Noh Gakudō and the Dentō Kumi
Odori Hōzonkai (Traditional Kumi Odori Preservation Group)
teamed together to start a five year project called “Noh no Goban
Chōkun no Goban (The Five Play Program of Noh; The Five Play
Program of Chōkun).” Chōkun was a dancer in the court of the
Ry ū ky ū king and he originated the classical kumi odori style of
Ryūkyū dance, which was heavily influenced by noh. The first in thisseries showed the noh play “Hagoromo (The Feathered Robe)” and the
Ryūkyū kumi odori “Mekarushi–” (January 16, Yokohama Noh
Gakudō). Both noh and Ryūkyū kumi odori were ceremonial performances closely associated with their respective national centers of
power, and these performances also aim at exploring the significanceof this.

Hirano, Hidetoshi
Nihon buyō (Japanese classical dance) critic. Born in 1944 in Sendai andgraduated from the theater division of the literature department of Waseda
University majoring in kabuki. Worked for a publishing house as an editor forsuch periodicals as “Okinawa Performing Arts,” the quarterly journal “Folk
Performing Arts,” the monthly magazine, “Japanese Music and Classical Dance.”
As a critic, his interest is in investigating the art of physical expression. He is amember of advisory committees for the Japanese Cultural Agency and theSociety for the Advancement of the Arts in Japan.
(Translation: Mark Oshima)

097

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

BALLET

BalletBallet World Stays Active
Under Difficult Circumstances
Urawa Makoto
Introduction
In 2016, many unforeseeable phenomena occurred globally,
including the aggravation of indiscriminate acts of terrorism by ISIL,
Brexit (Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union) and Donald
Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election. In Japan, Abenomics(Prime Minister Abe’s economic policy) has not generated expected
results, making the gaps in economy and welfare widen even further.
098

Moreover, the areas afflicted by the Great East Japan Earthquake
and the following nuclear accident in 2011 are far from restored, andfurther natural disasters like the Kumamoto earthquakes and thosecaused by climate change do not seem to end. Additionally, the severity of the situation surrounding people’s everyday life, culture and thearts is worsening due to the confusions surrounding the preparations
for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The decline of the birthrate andthe economic recession is still continuing, which has led to continuous decrease in the number of children likely to take ballet lessons,although they create an important foundation to sustain the balletworld. The disparity among private schools in terms of the numberof pupils is widening in particular.
Nevertheless, the ballet world and ballet market in Japan havenot noticeably lost its vibrancy. Particularly in the urban areas, thenumber of ballet companies and ballet performances still surpasses
those of other areas, and many foreign ballet companies and individual ballet dancers have been invited to perform during 2016. Though
the boom of organizing ballet competitions have now calmed downin Japan, many Japanese ballet dancers are producing good results incompetitions held overseas. Moreover, concert-style performances are
frequently held in various parts of Japan, in which young dancers performing or training abroad take part when they return to Japan forthe summer holidays. However, when you look at the situation indetail, the number of performances and recitals held outside the large
metropolitan areas is gradually decreasing. Even in the large city
areas, a decrease in the number of performance days has been seen.
Famous large-scale theatres did not close during this year, but somesmall theatres were shut down. There are also ongoing plans to renovate several theatres in order to make them more earthquake proof, or099

because the buildings are getting old, making it difficult for various
groups to secure venues.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Area
Here, I would like to cover some topics, which I think deserve
special mentioning.
In the Tokyo area, besides The National Ballet of Japan attachedto the New National Theatre, there are more than ten private balletcompanies performing on a regular basis. However, there are notmany companies that mount their own productions more than ten
times a year and there are quite a number of companies that rely on
meager public subsidies, including those based in Kansai and Chūbu
areas, where ballet is relatively active.

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

BALLET

The recent trend of ballet companies based in the Tokyo metropolitan area is that they rarely present new or newly produced works.
The majority of the companies present full-length productions fromtheir repertoire instead, and new pieces would be presented at most as
part of triple-bill programmes.
Let us take a look at each company. Firstly, the New National
Theatre , Tokyo has been led by Ōhara Noriko in her second andthird season as the Artistic Director of Ballet and Dance. While thecontemporary dance department has made many new attempts, The
National Ballet has been focusing on remounting works in its repertoire. Competent young dancers that have completed the balletschool attached to the state-run theatre or from outside have joined100

the key principal dancers Ono Ayako and Fukuoka Yūdai, and theballet company itself has also developed further, presenting classicaland contemporary pieces from its repertoire such as Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet that has been highly acclaimed as productions worth seeing.
Considering notable activities of private ballet companies, firstly,
Maki Asami of Asami Maki Ballet realized her long-held wish toremount a Japanesque piece titled Asuka Monogatari (Asuka Story),
which premiered in 1957 starring her mother Tachibana Akiko.
Under the new title of Asuka, it was revived in a contemporary style,such as using projections, and attracted a wide audience. Matsuyama
Ballet Company’s legendary ballerina Morishita Yōko still performs
the main characters in classical ballet productions, having danced
professionally for over sixty years. In Shimizu Tetsutarō’s masterpiece
Romeo and Juliet, she danced her most notable title role for the firsttime in many years, which pleased many fans. NBA Ballet Company,
which is the only company in the Tokyo metropolitan area based inTokorozawa City in Saitama Prefecture, is following its own uniquepath such as hosting ballet competitions, while creating contemporary works in cooperation with video artists. Ballet Chambre Ouest
based in Tokyo’s Hachioji City has also been presenting new midlength original works every year, alongside hosting competitions andholding an outdoor ballet event every summer. They build a special
stage on Kiyosato Plateau in Yamanashi Prefecture and attract a large
audience every year. The Tokyo Ballet lost its founder and producer
Sasaki Tadatsugu and held a memorial gala to mourn his death, which
doubled as the thirtieth premiere anniversary of Maurice Béjart’s
The Kabuki. K-Ballet Company, led by Kumakawa Tetsuya, casts
young dancers around Nakamura Shõko and has been very active
staging performances. As for Tani Momoko Ballet, its founder Tani

101

Momoko passed away the previous year and for her memorial performance, Act Two of Giselle was presented, as the title role was one ofher most successful parts. Other major companies include The Inoue
Ballet Foundation, Noriko Kobayashi Ballet Theatre, Tokyo City
Ballet, Star Dancers Ballet, which are all member companies of The
Association of Japanese Ballet Companies, a congregation of professional ballet companies founded in 2014 for the purpose of promoting
ballet. Further, the Tokyo Komaki Ballet has a special connection
with Mongolia, which it has used to its advantage, and the nationwide
Japan Ballet Association, which is comprised of ballet-related people,
staged performances and hosted competitions during the year, indicating that they are engaged in unique activities respectively.
Other matters worthy of special mentioning are as follows:

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

BALLETFirstly, Yoshida Miyako, who used to be a principal dancer at The
Royal Ballet alongside Kumakawa Tetsuya, is still popular and she
collaborated with the former New York City Ballet (NYCB) dancer
Horiuchi Gen in Ballet for the Future 2016, which was presented inTokyo and Kanazawa. This production was sponsored by Chacott, acompany which manufactures and sells ballet items. Besides its main
business, Chacott has opened ballet studios across Japan, and has now
started to produce ballet. As for The Royal Ballet, Hirano Ryōichi
and Takada Akane were both promoted to principal dancers and it
became a big topic.
NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) has also been hosting aballet festival at NHK Hall under the name Ballet no Kyōen (literalmeaning: Ballet Feast), inviting major ballet companies and dancers
102

from various parts of Japan. This year, besides inviting professional
ballet companies, a new project was added in which Manuel Legris
was asked to instruct junior dancers to put a piece on stage.
In Tokyo, new full-length ballet productions have not been seenfor quite a long while, but in Kanagawa Prefecture, Shinohara Seiichi,
who has been involved in a wide range of activities as a choreographer,presented Yami no Mukou no Sono Hikari no Hate (literal title: ‘At theEnd of the Light Beyond Darkness’) with Kanagawaken Geijutsu
Buyō Kyōkai (Kanagawa Prefecture Artistic Dance Association), an
organization bringing together dancers of classical ballet and modern
dance. Centered on dancers with an overflowing stage presence,such as Shimomura Yukie and Takagishi Naoki, the awe and threatof nature was depicted on a large scale. Gotō Sachiko, who is also
another choreographer with many experiences, presented A Slice ofLife for the first time in many years with Sakai Hana dancing themain role and it won the Arts Festival Prize from the Agency for
Cultural Affairs, showing that she is still active. As for remounts,
there was Franz Kafka’s Letters to My Father, which is one of the mostsuccessful works of Sasa Tae, who has continued to present groundbreaking choreographies. Due to its creative content, the revival
had been awaited for many years and it was presented in almost
the same way as in the premiere, with the same cast, including leaddancer Sakamoto Tokihiko, and by the hands of the original choreographer. It was presented as the first production of Takabe Hisako’s
newly founded Climb Rejoice Company and the value of this work
was reaffirmed.

Other Regions
103

Recently, ballet companies based in Kansai and Chūbu areas
have been producing more high-quality full-length pieces than provencompanies based in Tokyo and this trend is still continuing. The first
noteworthy company is the Osaka-based Jinushi Kaoru Ballet
Company. Jinushi Kaoru has turned Hans Christian Anderson’s The
Little Mermaid into a three-act ballet, sticking closely to the original
story. The dance was entertaining, the storyline was moving, themusic was chosen appropriately, the set design was full of ideas, andthe performances of the dancers, including Okumura Yui, who performed the mermaid, was wonderful, for which it won the Award for
Excellence at the National Arts Festival under the auspices of the
Agency for Cultural Affairs. It was the company’s second time to get
an award at this festival, as they also won the Grand Prize for the
production of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves two years ago. As forlarge-scale narrative ballet, Ballet Next’s Ichikawa Tōru, who
Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

BALLET

continues to create works of narrative ballet in Nagoya, adapted A
Dog of Flanders into a ballet using his unique style of integrating
realism and symbolism, and it was very successful. Also in Nagoya,
Théâtre de Ballet Company, after many years, revived The Rite of
Spring, through which Fukagawa Hideo paid homage, so to speak, toBallets Russes, and also presented a new production of A MidsummerNight’s Dream, which was compactly trimmed by Inoue Hiroyuki.
In the Kansai region, the Kōbe-based Sadamatsu-Hamada Balletis the most active company. This year as well, the company presented
modernistic works by both Japanese and foreign choreographers andSadamatsu Shōichiro himself created a new production of Romeo andJuliet. Also in Osaka, the long-established Hōmura Tomoi Ballet
Company presented Bayaderka and Sasaki Michiko Ballet presented
104

Shinohara Seiichi’s popular work Romeo and Juliet. Osaka Ballet
Company presented Raymonda and Noma Ballet Company based in
Sakai City presented La Fille mal gardeé, which was the first time forboth companies to present the respective titles. In Kyoto, the former
Kyoto Kaikan hall was fully redesigned and reopened as ROHM
Theatre Kyoto. At this new venue, Kyoto Ballet Company presented
Don Quixote, inviting many Étoiles-class dancers from the Paris
Opera, including Karl Paquette and Hannah O’Neill, who won the
Benois de la Danse prize this year, danced the part of Kitri. It wasmuch talked about and also covered by a television network. As partof ROHM Theater’s opening programme, a Kyoto-based dancers’
association called Zen Kyoto Yōbu Kyōgikai (All Kyoto WesternDance Council) presented Swan Lake choreographed by Fukagawa
Hideo, who added unique quality while faithfully following the original ballet. Additionally, Higaki Ballet presented Konishi Yūko’s The

Lady of the Camellias, which was favorably received when it toured toEurope and it drew the audience’s interest through the unique staging,such as adding Armand’s hallucination scene in Act 2.
In the Chūbu region, besides the two Nagoya-based companies
mentioned above, Ochi International Ballet has continued to put on
performances led by Ochi Kumiko, the artistic director of thecompany, even after losing its leader Ochi Minoru. For the compelling staging of Cinderella, Matsuoka Reiko Ballet that follows Ochi
International Ballet as a leader in this region won an award at Nagoya
City Art Festival and Matsuoka Reiko, who leads the company, also
won Tōkai Television Culture Prize. Moreover, Sumina Okada Ballet
focuses on full-length classical ballet pieces, Keiko Miyanishi Balletand Setsuko Kawaguchi Ballet is characterized by their contemporary
105

pieces and also Sasa Chieko Ballet was very active during this year.
In regions outside these large city areas, it is quite difficult to put
on ballet productions due to economic circumstances and audienceattendance. However, Chida Masako, who leads the Hokkaido-based
Sapporo Buyōkai, created an interesting and much talked about dance
piece dealing with the story of Carmen with a sci-fi approach, andassociating it with AI (artificial intelligence). Noism, which is the resident company of Niigata City Performing Arts Center, has been
active not only in Niigata but also in the Kantō region under theleadership of its artistic director Kanamori Jō, and it presented La
Bayadère, remaking it into a story about present-day racial conflicts.
Many foreign ballet companies visited Japan as well during theyear. The major lineup alone includes Hamburg Ballet that toured to

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

BALLET

Japan during the first half of the year, the tour of The Royal Balletfrom U.K, the ‘All Star Ballet Gala’, inviting top stars from aroundthe world such as Nina Ananiashvili and Alessandra Ferri, and ‘Étoile
Gala’ with the participation of the key members of the Paris Opera
Ballet and Hamburg Ballet was held during the middle of the year. In
autumn, ballet companies such as Milan’s La Scala Theatre Ballet fascinated the audience. Moreover, the Japan tour of Matthew Bourne’s
Sleeping Beauty should also be noted in this report.
Urawa, Makoto

106

His autonym is Ichikawa Akira. He was formerly a professor in the Faculty ofBusiness Administration and Corporate Culture at Shōin University. He works
as the advisor to the Association of Theaters and Halls in Japan. As a dance
critic, Urawa has written articles for newspapers and magazines, and has also
held positions in various committees such as the committee for the Agency for
Cultural Affairs. He has also worked as a member of the jury for a number ofdance competitions.
(Translation : Sumida Michiyo)Contemporary Dance and Butoh
Modern Dance Retrospection,
Contemporary Dance Maturity:
Dance Confronting Society at a Crossroads
Tsutsumi Hiroshi
In 2016, the Japanese contemporary dance world witnessed many
developments that conveyed a sense of having reached certain milestones: Retrospection on dance history, the maturity of contemporary
dance, the decline of corporate patronage and the expansion of publicly funded projects, the clusters of art festivals, technology anddance crossovers, and initiatives looking ahead to the 2020 Tokyo
107

Olympics. Let’s examine each of these in turn.

A Genealogy from Modern to Contemporary Dance
To mark 30 years since the death of Butoh founder Hijikata
Tatsumi, a Butoh monument was erected at his grave in Izu and theKamaitachi Museum of Art opened in Ugomachi, Akita Prefecture,
which was the location for the images included in the photo book
Kamaitachi. Akita, the birthplace of both Hijikata and modern
dance pioneer Ishii Baku (Ishii Bac), also hosted a new international
dance festival, Odoru Akita (Dance Akita), which will be held every
three years.
The Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio’s Dance Archive Project 2016
presented three lecture performances: Ohno Yoshito’s That was likethis (Sore wa kono yō na koto data) was a commentary on Forbidden
Colors (Kinjiki), generally regarded as the first example of Butoh;

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CONTEMPORARY DANCE and BUTOH

Murobushi Kō’s quick silver was remade by Mukai Kumotarō as
Butoh? Presentation Show (Butō? Purezentēshon shō); and Kino Saikostaged Dance is Physical Education (Dansu wa taiiku nari), in reference
to Ohno Kazuo, who was a physical education teacher. Following thesudden death of Murobushi Kō in 2015, an online archive of his work
(http://www.ko-murobushi.com) was launched. In addition, theEguchi Miya Archive, a project that passes on the achievements ofmodern dance practitioners Eguchi Takaya and Miya Misako, revived
The Fire of Prometheus (Puromete no hi).
During the year, Kurosawa Mika died at the age of 59. Born toKurosawa Teruo, who studied under Ishii Baku, and Shimoda Eiko,she started learning modern dance from the age of five. She was basedin New York from 1982 to 1985, where she was heavily influenced byher encounter with the Judson Dance Theater. After returning to108

Japan she formed her company, Mika Kurosawa & Dancers, andpursued a form of dance centering on improvisation. The cause ofdeath was multiple organ failure resulting from the advance of cancer
in her left breast, though she had continued to perform while receiving treatment after 2000, when her cancer first appeared. Embodying
the currents of dance history that shifted from modern to postmodern and contemporary styles, she was known as the “Godmother ofcontemporary Japanese dance.”

Contemporary Dance Reaches Adulthood
Now 30 years since Teshigawara Saburō won at the Bagnolet
International Choreography Competition, and Japanese contemporary dance finally seemed to enter adulthood in 2016. Teshigawara
himself had a packed and impressive year. He premiered his silent
dance Quiet (Shizuka) and then developed this into Tranquil as acommission from GöteborgOperans Danskompani (Gothenburg
Opera Dance Company). In Japan, he directed a production of theopera The Magic Flute at the Aichi Triennale. For up, which he createdwith jazz pianist Yamashita Yōsuke, he brought a live horse on stage
while Satō Rihoko unveiled her superb equestrian skills. At a recitalwith the Reigakusha Gagaku Ensemble, Teshigawara and Satō danced
to In an Autumn Garden (Shūtei ga ichigu), written by Takemitsu
Tōru as gagaku (classical imperial court music and dance in Japan). He
also staged an adaptation of Bruno Schulz’s Cinnamon (also known as
The Street of Crocodiles) at Theatre X (cai) and performed 13 pieces at
his home space of Karas Apparatus, which marked its third anniversary since opening.

Ōshima Sakiko’s H.Art Chaos presented a new work, Eternity(Etaniti), for the first time in six years, with Shirakawa Naoko’s solo
dance painting a portrait of perpetuity and the spark of living in finite

109

time. Ide Shigehiro’s idevian crew marked its 25th anniversary withthe theatrically polished pieces Howling (Hauringu) and Blind Spot
(Shikaku). Kondō Ryōhei’s Condors marked its 20th anniversary bytaking GIGANT on a revival tour around Japan, staging LOVE ME
TenDER for a limited run in Saitama, and touring a 20th-anniversary
revival of 20th Century Boy to 10 cities around the country as a “bestof” from its nearly 100 previous works, as well as staging the fanfavorite 20th Century Toy. Younger members of Condors Hirahara
Shintarō and Suzuki Takurō are also working with their own companies (respectively, OrganWorks and CHAiroiPLIN). Hirahara won
twice at the Toyota Choreography Award with the Next-Generation
Choreographer Prize and Audience Prize. Furuie Yū ri’s Project
Ohyama commemorated a decade of activities with Even so, dance(Soredemo odotte). Company Derashinera’s Onodera Shūji premiered
Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CONTEMPORARY DANCE and BUTOH

La Dame aux Camélias and revived Romeo and Juliet, among many
theatre appearances. Itō Kim formed a new group, Physical Theatre
Company GERO. In other developments, Asai Nobuyoshi launched amobile theatre group, Tsukiakari Theater (literally, Moonlight
Theater), while Yokoyama Ayano and Kigawa Sei formed, respectively, the companies lal banshees and DE PAY’s MAN. Other artists
and companies who garnered attention during the year, revealing thedepth of the scene, included Fukaya Masako’s Dance Dog All is Full,
Takahashi Jun’s Junjun Science, Seki Kaori’s PUNCTUMUN,KENTARO!!’s TOKYO ELECTROCK STAIRS, Okuno Miwa,Ōzono Kōji and Hashimoto Noriyasu’s Kaeru P, Kitao Wataru’s
Baobab, and Tamura Kōichirō’s Revo.

Newly Socially Aware Dance110

Socially conscious, frank styles of dance also came to the fore.
Kasai Akira published Body and Life: Theory of Super-era Dance(Karada to seimei—chōjidai dansu-ron), assiduously discussing his
unique vision of the body. Though his Tonight is Nasty (Konban wa
are-moyō) from last year won the 47th Dance Critics Association
Award, Kasai also caused a stir for rejecting the prize because he feltthat the officially stated reasons for his selection were not respectful. His meticulousness about language and dance as well as society
and the body were also prominent in the eurythmic version ofDance the Constitution of Japan (Nihonkoku kenpō o odoru) by hiscompany, Tenshikan. Maro Akaji’s Dairakudakan premiered Paradise(Paradaisu). A hyper-real world, though nonetheless fundamentallyconnected to contemporary society, unfolded on stage, featuring
projections of the Rousseau painting The Dream and various scenes
entwined with the titular motif, while also evoking the case of anabducted female junior high school student in Saitama that came tolight in March.
Kawaguchi Takao and Jonathan M. Hall staged the LGBTinformed Touch of the Other (TOUCH OF THE OTHER—Tasha no te),recreating the research that American sociologist Laud Humphreys
conducted into male sexual encounters in public toilets in the UnitedStates in the 1960s. The work of Maki Munetaka was also conspicuous. In Asterisk: Goodbye, Snow White (*ASTERISK Goodbye, SnowWhite shinshaku shirayukihime) he portrayed a dark fantasy of a star
actress jealous of the rise of a young idol. Maki directed his owngroup, Tokyo Gegegay, in Tokyo Gegegay Opera Company (Tokyo
gegegei kagekidan) as well as a performance by dancers from Taiwan,
the Philippines, Malaysia, and Japan in the festival DANCE DANCEASIA—Crossing the Movements in Tokyo. This belied its ostensible
genre as street dance to beguile Maki’s many fans with a style inspired111

by gay club culture. Another dancer heavily influenced by nightclub
culture, Higashino Yō ko, fully launched her new company,
Antibodies Collective, which she had formed in 2015 as a development from her previous unit, Baby-Q. It staged the outdoor performance A Neighborhood (A kaiwai) at Zamza Asagaya, a fringe theatrein Tokyo, and in the surrounding area.
Miura Hiroyuki’s Works-M staged Garden of Qualia (Kuoria noniwa). The movements of the body created a portrait of Gotō Kenji,
the Japanese journalist captured and killed by ISIL (ISIS) in Syria in
January 2015, out of the image of simultaneously encouraging boththe clash and development of civilizations. Kitamura Akiko partneredwith the Cambodian photographer Kim Hak, who has documented
the memories and histories of people killed in the 1970s genocide
under Pol Pot, to create Cross Transit, which intermixed music and

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CONTEMPORARY DANCE and BUTOH

dance with video footage. Suzuki Yukio revived his version of The
Rite of Spring as part of the omnibus-style performance warp mania#1, referencing the figures who brought great change to society in thesame way as Ballets Russes. For warp mania #1 he also staged a workin tribute to Yoyes (María Dolores Katarain), the Basque-born
Spanish political activist, as well as a new work, Differential
Sedimentation (Bibun no taiseki), which cited Svetlana Alexievich’s
Chernobyl Prayer. The Austria-based Matsune Michikazu performed
the Japanese premiere of Dance, if you want to enter my country!
(Odore, nyūkoku shitakereba!). Based on the real-life case of a dancer
for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater who, suspected as a terrorist
by immigration officials at an airport in Israel, was told to prove he
was who he said he was by dancing for them, Matsune created a piecethat re-inquired into the nature of global expression. Iida Shigemi is a112

dancer who has led workshops all over the world. He formed a newcompany, kochi gumi (literally, East Wind Group), and staged small
stars; in east wind (Kochi fuku naka, chiisana hoshi), a piece of
documentary-dance-theatre employing dance and music from thevarious homelands of the international company. Hasegawa Nay’s
Fujiyama Annette, which advocates a theatre-dance crossover style,revived Attack on Dance. Through a process of auditions, Hasegawa
selected dancers from varying styles, such as ballet, contemporary
dance, jazz and ballroom dancing, who then responded during theperformance to a series of questions (“What inspired you to start
dancing?”, “What do you think about when dancing?”, “Can dancechange the world?”, and so on). The piece was then adapted with local
casts in China and Brazil.

From Corporate Sponsorship to Public Enterprises
Kanamori Jō’s dance group Noism, which is based at Ryutopia
Niigata City Performing Arts Center, revived its productions ofCarmen and The House of the Spirits. The theatrical dance piece La
Bayadère: Nation of Illusion (Ra bayadēru—maboroshi no kuni) had ascript by the playwright Hirata Oriza and attracted buzz as a modern
adaptation of the ballet masterpiece. It was set in the former Japanesepuppet state of Manchukuo, where it imagined five ethnic groups(Japanese, Korean, Manchu, Mongol, and Han Chinese) existing side
by side. The production included actors from Shizuoka Performing
Arts Center (SPAC) in a face-off between theatre and dance. Directly
showing a situation where those in power have language while theoppressed are unable to speak, it also demonstrated the eloquence ofdance as a form of wordless expression that uses the body. Both La
Bayadère and The House of the Spirits were performed as part of113

BeSeTo Theater Festival, which is organized jointly by committees inJapan, China and South Korea, sounding a warning to the international state of affairs today whereby ethnic and religious conflicts arerampant, and the memory of history no longer certain.
The premiere of Move/Still appeared at JAPON dance project,which was organized mainly by Koike Mimoza, who serves as theperforming arts director of Le Logoscope, an arts research laboratory in Monaco, and is also a principal dancer with the Les Ballets
de Monte Carlo, the official national company of Monaco. Koike
was joined by Endō Yasuyuki (former of the Ballet National deMarseille) and Kodama Hokuto (Royal Swedish Ballet) as well as
Shimaji Yasutake (formerly of The Forsythe Company), and the
National Ballet of Japan dancers Ono Ayako, Yonezawa Yui, andYahata Akimitsu, and others. Its motif of planting trees in a park

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CONTEMPORARY DANCE and BUTOH

was a metaphor for the performers who dance for public theatres invarious countries, though it also somewhat cynically elucidated theirwill to continue moving and dancing. The piece was much acclaimed
by audiences.

Ōue Shintarō, who has experience with prominent overseas
dance companies, revived dan-su, which he created with Moriyama
Mirai and Hirahara Shintarō, for a 24-peformance tour to 15 cities
around Japan. Ōue’s C/Ompany also staged Forget/Bolero (Wasurero/borero), which attempted to deconstruct the superiority and relationship between Ravel’s music and dance.
The end of March saw the closure of Asahi Art Square, while
Kid Ailack Art Hall shut its doors for good at the end of December.
The demise of the Toyota Choreography Award, which has promoted the next generation of dance talent over its ten iterations, also
114

brought to a close 15 years of history. We might speculate that thereason for the decision to stop the award was the fall in profits of its
sponsor, Toyota, due to the strong yen as well as its recent commitment as the top sponsor for the International Olympic Committee inanticipation of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It seems, then, that we arein the midst of a large shift from the corporate sponsorship that had
become prominent in the 1990s towards the publicly funded modelthat emerged from the 2000s. Major examples of the latter include
the clusters of art festivals that now happen around Japan and 2016
also witnessed several, including the Setouchi Trienale, Aichi
Triennale, and Saitama Triennale. In these events, art projects are
implemented as a means for local governments and authorities torevitalize regional areas, and engage local residents to create works ofart that are rooted in the community. Dance is also programmed inthese festivals and plays its part in attracting audiences.

Yanaihara Mikuni’s Nibroll appeared at the Setouchi Trienale,
presenting the outdoor performance The World has Shrunk, andOnly a Certain Fact Remains (Sekai wa chijinde shimatte aru jijitsu
dake ga nokoru) on Inujima in Okayama Prefecture. Inujima is an
island that prospered during the Meiji period (1868–1912) with its
quarrying and bronze refining industries, but went into decline
during the Taishō period (1912–1926). Its population of some 5,000
at its peak has now dropped to a mere 50. Tripping over or kicking
the black slag left by copper refining, the dancers illuminated thehistory of an island abandoned by the times. As the Aichi Triennale,
Co.Yamada Un premiered Breath of Life (IKINONE), based on
research into the the folk performance custom of the hana-matsuri(flower festival), which has continued in the Okumikawa area of
Aichi for over 700 years and is influenced by the mountain ascetic
practice of Shugendō. The Amsterdam-based pianist Mukaiyama

115

Tomoko often collaborates with dancers. For the festival Dance
New Air she created La Mode as well as the solo dance piece HOME
for Yuasa Ema at the Saitama Triennale.

Dance and the Socially Vulnerable
As we head towards the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic
Games, a wide range of initiatives has started. No doubt hoping to
attract tourists coming to Japan from overseas, Kyoto Butoh-Kan,
Japan’s first specialist Butoh theatre, opened in Kyoto. Ima Tenko of
the troupe Kiraza started an open run of performances. Perhaps it isno surprise that it is the brainchild of producer Kohara Keito, who
also created the unusually long-running GEAR in Kyoto. That
popular production is a non-verbal show mixing pantomime, breakdancing, magic and juggling into a story along with cutting-edge

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CONTEMPORARY DANCE and BUTOH

technology such as projection mapping, a dress that flashes with LED
lights, and laser beams. It opened in 2012 and celebrated 1,000 performances in 2015, and has now been seen by over 100,000 people. Since
it has no dialogue, it is a successful example of a tourist-friendly performance that can be enjoyed by everyone from children to adults
regardless of nationality.
There has been attention recently on crossovers between dance
and the latest technologies as well as on art for the disabled. On-Myaku
2016 was an attempt to stage an interactive performance between live
music played by pianist Nakagawa Kenichi, dance by Shirai Tsuyoshi,
and various sensors. Takatani Shirō premiered ST/LL in Japan, following its world premiere at Le Volcan (Le Havre, France) in 2015. Healso revived CHROM A. The Berlin-based Kawaguchi Yui’s
MatchAtria, co-created with the video artist Ishibashi Yoshimasa,
116

returned to Japan for a new run. Through holding “heartbeat perception” devices that worked in synch as well as a binaural soundscapeand 3D video effects, the audience experienced the multimedia, multi-sensory performance while intimately connected to the physicalityof the dancer.
At TPAM, the Japan Foundation presented Disability x Performing Arts Series 2016, including a demonstration of Reactor for
Awareness in Motion (RAM), an ongoing research project developedby Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media and the dancer Andō Yōko.
RAM captures the movements of dancers and then converts them inreal time into video, music and more. A tool kit was also shown to the
public. During the development process, Jareo Osamu was also
involved with experimental research with the physically disabled, capturing and visualizing the actions of those with disabilities in thehope of improving mutual understanding and empathy. In 2016, Jareopublished Faltering Dance, Born at a Nursing Home (Rōjin hōmu deumareta totsu totsu dansu), a record of his workshops with physicallyimmobile residents at a nursing home in Kyoto.
The physically disabled group Gekidan Taihen staged its first
Tokyo performances in 12 years with a revival of Lung Ta (Wind
Horse): Blow a Strong Wind (Runta [kaze no uma]—ii kaze yo fuke).
Led by Kim Manri, the group’s use of silent physical actions to express
dance has overturned stereotypes to much acclaim at home andabroad. The Sagamihara stabbings massacre in Kanagawa Prefecture
at a disabled care home in July, committed by a former employee who
believed in eugenics, sent shock waves through Japanese society. As amemorial and requiem as well as encouragement for disabled people
around the country traumatized by the event, Kim revived a solo
dance called Universe of Joy (Kotohogi no uchū). Hearing-impaired

117

artists also attracted attention. Makihara Eri and the Butoh dancer
Dakei co-directed a film, Listen. All the directors and cast are deaf,
expressing a “visual music” whose rhythm and melody is sensed
without dialogue or voices but through movement incorporating theentire body and spirit. The London-based Minamimura Chisato premiered The Sea of Noise (Noizu no umi), expressing a world of noisethat can be “heard” by sight, sound and touch. Both Kim andMinamimura have said that the alternative perspectives of those withdisabilities have the potential to introduce social innovation. Indeed,
the socially vulnerable also possess such an “alternative perspective.”
The dance group Shinjin H Sokerissa!, which is led by Aoki Yūki andfeatures performers with experience of being homeless, won theGrand Prix at the Konica Minolta Social Design Award, which highlights art that endeavors to improve society.
Dance that sincerely confronts the reality of our world also helps

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

CONTEMPORARY DANCE and BUTOH

restore our spirits. Following the Kumamoto earthquake, danceworkshops led by the likes of Condors gave cheer to local children. At
the disabled care home in Sagamihara, a dance classroom was opened
five months after the massacre and dance was able to bring smiles tothe faces of the residents.
Tsutsumi, Hiroshi
Born in 1966 in Kawasaki City. He graduated from Bunka Gakuin’s theatre
course. He is an editor and performing arts critic. After serving as an editor for
art, entertainment, theatre and drama magazines, he now works freelance.
His writing and editing includes The Flying Dangorō Party in the Sky: The Rebirthof Acharaka (Sora tobu kumo no ue dangorō ichiza: Acharaka saitanjō),
Performing Arts Magazine Bacchus, Performing Arts in Germany Today (Gendai
doitsu no pafōmingu ātsu), and Peter Brook: The Way of Creation (Pītā burukku:
Sōsaku no kiseki).
(Translation: William Andrews)

118Television Dramas
When Imagination Is Tested for the Benefit of
Human Dignity and Greatness
Kotaki Tetsuya
In Japan, the major news topics during 2016 were natural disasters,such as the Kumamoto earthquakes, and political events, such as the
movement toward revising the Constitution and the Emperor
announcing his intension to abdicate. Donald Trump’s accession to
the U.S. presidency also had a major impact on both Japan and theworld. Trump’s politics holds the goal of making America great again,
giving first priority to white people and rejecting other races, and it
119

makes us wonder how it is going to effect democracy, human rights,
cultural diversity, environmental preservation and autonomy of themedia alongside other issues, as well as what kind of influence drama
could have in these turbulent times. One may say that the power ofimagination to work for the benefit of human dignity and greatness
has never been tested as much as now.
Meanwhile, in the world of television, the form of viewing ischanging from real-time viewing to time-shift viewing, due to the factthat recorded viewing is taking root and thus spread of delivery
service to include those who missed the real-time broadcast of the
programme. This trend will also possibly affect the way television
dramas are made, changing from dramaturgy based on the assumption that people will be ‘viewing in real time while doing other things’
to dramaturgy tailored to ‘viewing by giving exclusive attention’,
which is like watching a film in the cinema.

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

TELEVISION DRAMAS

Looking back at television dramas broadcast in 2016, as with therecent trend, dramas made by NHK overwhelmed those made bycommercial television stations in terms of both production quality as
well as entertainment.
Amongst NHK’s dramas, Natsume Sōseki no Tsuma (literal title:
Natsume Sōseki’s Wife, screenplay written by Ikehata Shunsaku anddirected by Shibata Takeshi) was the best and the portrayals of theconflict between the two main characters, who were a married couple,
were overwhelming. The story depicts the relation between Meiji
period’s great writer Natsume Sōseki (his real name is Natsume
Kin-nosuke) and his wife. The way in which the dreadful conflict andultimate love between the husband and wife was portrayed, struck achord with the viewers, as it could be related to various aspects ofmarital relationships. Kin-nosuke (played by Hasegawa Hiroki) was
120

deprived of parental love and does not know how to treat his wife,
although he has yearned for a family. He merely snaps at his wife tolet out his agony of not being able to realize his dream to become anovelist and settling instead for the position of a teacher. On theother hand, his wife Kyōko (played by Ono Machiko) has beenbrought up in luxury and does not understand Kin-nosuke’s complex
about family life. Neither does she understand why Kin-nosuke issuffering because of his dream to become a novelist, as she has noknowledge in literature. Having been ignored by her husband, Kyōko
suffers from loneliness and attempts suicide. Moreover, Kin-nosuke
becomes physically and mentally sick when he goes to England to
study and repeatedly falls into a state of frenzy, seized by delusions
and hallucinations. In the drama, the couple’s hellish scenes are
depicted in a ghastly way but the tension is broken at times throughtheir little kindness and smiles, offering glimpses of their love whichgradually overflows. The best part of it is not only the portrayal of
their solitude and conflict due to their differences but the ultimate
love that connects the couple all the same. The drama goes beyond
the relationship between Natsume Sōseki and his wife and brings
home the universal reality of married couples. This drama won theMonthly Award of the Galaxy Awards.
The New Year’s drama special titled Fuji Family (screenplay
written by Kizara Izumi and directed by Yoshida Teruyuki) is adomestic drama gently heartening those who cannot find their way
out from their daily lives. At the foot of Mount Fuji, there is a convenience store called ‘Fuji Family’, where three beautiful sisters used
to live. The second-eldest sister has died, while the youngest sister has
got married and moved out. Currently, it is run by Old Emiko(played by Katagiri Hairi), who is the younger sister of the sisters’121

deceased father, as well as the second daughter’s ex-husband, a parttimer called Kasumi (played by Nakamura Yurika) and the eldest
daughter called Takako (played by Yakushimaru Hiroko), who comesto help after work. Everyone there is in a stalemate, being at a loss
about what to do with their lives. The daily lives of such characters
are depicted and woven into it are several layers of encouraging scenesthat go straight to the viewers’ hearts. For instance, to Kasumi, who
has the habit of saying, “It’s okay,” Takako says, “You should say ‘It’s
not okay’ when it’s not okay.” However, it is Takako herself that isafraid to say, “It’s not okay,” because she is the one looking after
everyone. Old Emiko, on the other hand, feels inferior because she
has grown old, but when she encounters ‘a robot that has to be takencare of ’, which was made just for the sake of causing trouble to people,
she starts thinking, “Perhaps it is alright for me to be here.” The

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

TELEVISION DRAMAS

screenwriter Kizara Izumi always encourages people who are bogged
down by their ordinary lives. This programme received the ATP
Award for Best Drama.
A one-off drama broadcast in the summer titled Kidnap Tour(based on the novel by Kakuta Mitsuyo, adapted into a screenplay anddirected by Kishi Yoshiyuki) is a pleasurable summer-long fairy tale.
A fifth-grader called Haru (played by Toyoshima Hana) has made noplans for the summer holiday. Her mother is busy working, while
her father has left home and is living separately. However, her father(played by Tsumabuki Satoshi) suddenly shows up and says, “I’mgoing to kidnap you.” Haru is fed up with her whimsical father, butsince she has nothing else to do, she says, “I’ll keep you company,”
and decides to be kidnapped. The conversation between the annoying
122

father and the uninterested daughter is what makes the drama interesting. The reason why the parents have split, or the demand that thefather has made to the mother when he kidnapped their daughter is not
explained, which has made it into a good storyline. It has also turned
the kidnap journey into a so-called ‘road movie’ that allows the viewers
to focus just on the father and daughter. Soon Haru is having fun
with her father by the sea at night and is moved when she sees fireflies
flying near the temple where they are staying. She gradually opens
her heart to her father and eventually comes to think that her father isa cool guy. There is a scene in which her aunt (played by Kaho) saysthat it is ‘a miracle’ to have met her boyfriend. The joys and sensations
that Haru has experienced while traveling are also miracles. Perhaps
children are always seeking for such miracles from their parents.
NHK’s ‘Morning Drama Series’ remains successful. Asa ga kita(Here Comes Asa broadcast from September 2015 till the beginning ofApril 2016) kept the viewers interested until the end, depicting how
the strong heroine got through some turbulent times. The drama ismodeled on Hiro-oka Asako, a business woman who started a coalmining business, an insurance company and a women’s college during
the transition from the Edo to the Meiji period, depicted in a novel by
Furukawa Chieko. Firstly, Ōmori Mika’s screenplay added high-spirited charm to the heroine. Asa (played by Haru), who is the second
daughter to a Kyoto-based business tycoon, has been a tomboy that
liked doing sumō wrestling since early childhood and is the exact
opposite of her quiet sister Hatsu (played by Miyazaki Aoi), who likes
to take culture lessons. Soon Asa marries Shinjiro (played by Tamaki
Hiroshi), who is the second son to an exchange broker in Osaka.
Shinjiro, however, is easygoing and only interested in the arts. Therefore, Haru reorganizes the family business and starts new businesses

123

one after another on her own. Ōmori highlights the charming
heroine by portraying the people around her plentifully, such asadding dramatic tension caused by the different attitudes of her sisterand husband (directed by Nishitani Shinichi and others). Since noneof the productions in the morning drama series had been set in thetime between the end of the early modern Samurai period and the
beginning of the Meiji era, it was quite a challenge, and to add to that,the way the heroine was highlighted was the strongest appeal of Asaga kita. The series won the Grand Prize in the Serial Drama categoryof the Tokyo Drama Awards 2016.
The seven-episode Totto Terebi (Totto Television based on a novel
by Kuroyanagi Tetsuko) was modeled on a popular television personality called Kuroyanagi Tetsuko (born in 1933), who has appeared on

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

TELEVISION DRAMAS

the radio and television since the early days of television, and is still
active. It was a drama trying to convey how programmes were madepassionately back then. Actually, Kuroyanagi herself appeared in
the drama, playing the part of the old female narrator. The drama
about the making of television programmes begins from around thescene in which a radio programme is being recorded. The drama thenstarts focusing on Totto-chan, the nickname for Kuroyanagi Tetsuko(played by Mitsushima Hikari), and the story zips along scene after
scene, depicting the hectic creation process, episodes with Mukōda
Kuniko, Ei Rokusuke, Atsumi Kiyoshi and Morishige Hisaya, and acrowd gathering around a street television. In terms of ‘the world of
television bustling with excitement’, the heat of the time was conveyed
vividly, sense of nostalgia and excitement were induced through Nakazomo Miho’s script that made the viewers feel as though they were124

watching a revolving lantern. Inoue Tsuyoshi’s nicely paced staging
gave shape to the script, and it was nice to watch Mitsushima Hikari
playing the part of Kuroyanagi articulately. Recently, the power of
television is weakening but this drama made us think about what islacking, and it won the Monthly Award of the Galaxy Awards.
In the Premium Drama Kiseki no Hito (literal title: The Miracle
Man, screenplay written by Okada Yoshikazu and directed by
Kariyama Shunsuke), consisting of eight episodes, the portrayal of
miracles that could only be brought about by a loser was compellingand moving. Ittaku (played by Mineta Kazunobu) is a man who
dreams of being a musician, but he actually does nothing, does notthink about anything, nor does he know what to do with his time.
One day, a foolish man like him falls in love with Hana, who used to
be a delinquent girl (played by Asō Kumiko), and starts babysitting

her only daughter named Umi (Sumida Moeno), who is both opticallyand aurally challenged and also unable to speak. As he keeps Umi
company, he causes miracles to happen without thinking. In thesecond episode, Ittaku tries to teach Umi how to eat soup with aspoon but he struggles and the way it is portrayed is really something.
With his finger, he writes ‘spoon’ on Umi’s hand and tries to make her
use it but she runs wild and does not obey him. Ittaku repeats it over
and over again until the neighbours living in the same flat start complaining. Finally, he manages to make Umi eat soup with the spoon
and smile. Being a foolish man that does not think much, he was able
to succeed, whereas other people would not be able to cope with it.
The way their seemingly endless struggle was depicted in the second
episode was more than enough to make this point clear and the realistic portrayal made this miracle story ever so moving. The drama won
125

the Grand Prize at the National Arts Festival.
The eight-episode samurai drama series titled Chikaemon is about
Chikamatsu Monzaemon, a writer of ‘ningyō jōruri’ (puppet theatre)
during the Edo period. The dramatization of how Chikamatsu overcame his slump period was interesting. While Chikamatsu (played by
Matsuo Suzuki) has fallen into a slump and cannot write new plays, aqueer-beer man called Mankichi (played by Aoyama Munetaka) thatsells ‘fukōtō’ (literally meaning ‘undutiful sugar’) appears. Inspired by
Mankichi’s mockery of being filial to one’s parents, loyalty and othertraditional values, he writes his masterpiece given the title Sonezaki
Shinjū (The Love Suicides at Sonezaki), which goes down in history.
It is said that Chikamatsu wrote Sonezaki Shinjū based on a suicide
for love that actually occurred. Though Fujimoto Yuki’s script isbased on such historical fact, she also creates a storyline that suggests

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

TELEVISION DRAMAS

Chikamatsu’s artistic theory saying, “Art abides in a realm that isneither truth nor fiction,” which makes us laugh, and in the end,
makes us think about what it is like for writers to write. The way
Matsuo Suzuki plays Chikamatsu’s gripe and clever quip, and contemporary J-pop and other pop music used in a casual way in Kajiwara
Toki’s direction works as titillation. Mankichi’s presence, however,is the most striking. The presence of unconventional characters suchas the stupid rock ‘n’ roller in Kiseki no Hito and the fukōtō vendor
in Chikaemon per se was indeed dramatic, and Chikaemon won theAward for Excellence at the National Arts Festival.
NHK continues to broadcast dramas from its regional stations
across Japan. One of the local dramas broadcast in 2016 was from
Okayama and was titled Indigo no Koibito (The Indigo Lovers produced
126

by NHK Okayama), in which the portrayal of how the characters
faced their troubled pasts left a strong impression. Harada Kenji(played by Arai Hirofumi) works as a craftsman processing denim inKurashiki City in Okayama Prefecture and he falls in love with apainter called Nonaka Miyuki (played by Minami), who has moved toKurashiki. The drama is about how the two characters overcome theirpasts through their love relationship. Miyuki has a troubled past ofabandoning her daughter for not being able to bring her up, while
Kenji has harbored ill feelings for having given up his dream to becomea jazz pianist. Indigo no Koibito makes us feel how they came to accept
their pasts through their dialogues related to work, such as “Damages
and dirt give denims extra value. Perhaps it’s the same with people,
too.” In other words, they come to terms with their traumatized andblemished pasts and try to live anew in the reality at hand. A man anda woman trapped in their pasts are liberated in the drama, using Ōhara

Museum of Art and the local industry in Kurashiki as its backdrop.
Arai Shuko’s script and Izunami Takamasa’s direction left the viewers
with a pleasant feeling, and the drama won the Local Production
Drama Award of the Tokyo Drama Awards 2016.
Amongst serial dramas produced by commercial television stations, there were two love stories, namely Itsuka Kono Koi wo
Omoidashite Kitto Naite Shimau (Fuji TV) and Nigeru wa Haji daga
Yakunitatsu (TBS), which evoked various heartrending sorrows oflove from totally different angles.
Itsuka Kono Koi wo Omoidashite Kitto Naite Shimau (Love That
Makes You Cry, literal title: When I Remember This Love, I Will SurelyCry) is a love story set in Tokyo, depicting the agonies of young
127

people who have come to Tokyo from rural areas. Soda Ren (playedby Kōra Kengo), who has been brought up in a farming village inFukushima, and Sugihara Oto (played by Arimura Kasumi), who has
run away from her adoptive parents in Hokkaido, get to know eachother through a certain incident and start going out as they work inthe metropolis. However, living in Tokyo is very tough. Ren works
at a freight company and Oto at a nursing-care facility, living days on
low wages and overworking themselves, and by the time they returnto their cheap flats, they are utterly exhausted. Nevertheless, both ofthem try to look forward and live cheerfully by thinking of eachother. Ren’s grandfather, who does farming in Fukushima, talks
about depopulation and lack of successors. Oto has been nursing her
foster mother in Hokkaido and it is now followed by a hard working
life in Tokyo. In this love story, besides those harsh realities, otheryoung people around them (played by Takahata Mitsuki and others)

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

TELEVISION DRAMAS

are portrayed, making the unforgettable pangs of love seep through(directed by Namiki Michiko). Sakamoto Yūji, who wrote the script,
drew attention for adapting Saimon Fumi’s novel into the screenplay
for Tokyo Love Story (Fuji TV, 1991), which was a love story between awoman, who was a returnee and had Westernized set of values, and asimple and honest young man. Itsuka Kono Koi wo Omoidashite Kitto
Naite Shimau can be regarded as Sakamoto’s original version of Tokyo
Love Story, and it won the Best Drama Award in the Serial Drama
category of the Tokyo Drama Awards 2016.)
On the other hand, Nigeru wa Haji daga Yakunitatsu (English
title: We Married as a Job!, literal title: It is Embarrassing but Useful toFlee, based on a comic book by Umino Tsunami) is a drama delicately
depicting the sadness of love, extracting today’s romantic circum128

stances. The heroine Moriyama Mikuri (played by Aragaki Yui) is ahighly-educated woman, who has finished graduate school but cannot
get a job, so she reluctantly starts working for a homemaker service
agency. However, her employer called Tsuzaki Hiramasa (played by
Hoshino Gen) is a strait-laced person, who can only see things logically. Soon, the two of them, who have not had any romantic experiences, start a common-law marriage by signing a full-time housewife
contract. The first thing that makes it dramatic is how the personalities of the two characters and the situation are set. A man and awoman that are not romantically interested in one another gradually
start to care for each other’s feeling, become sexually aware and feel
jealousy. The viewers can relate to the extremely pure aspect of thedrama because an employment relationship is set at the beginning andthe screenwriter Nogi Akiko delicately and thoroughly depicts how
they start to have romantic feelings. Another major point is that thescript delivers the joy of being thanked and the importance of trying
hard through depicting Mikuri working as a homemaker and contracted housewife. In other words, it is a drama that heartens those
who are not living on their own terms. Moreover, television programmes such as Jōnetsu Tairiku (Continent of Passion), in which professionals and activists in various fields are followed and interviewed,
are used to titillate delusions about work and the cast dancing ‘koi
dansu’ (love dance) at the end makes it even more enjoyable to watch(directed by Kaneko Fuminori and others). This drama won theMonthly Award of the Galaxy Awards.
In Nigeru wa Haji daga Yakunitatsu, Nogi Akiko’s adaptation of
the original comic book stood out. The screenplay for the preceding
drama titled Jūhan Shuttai! (based on the comic book Second Print
Run Confirmed! by Matsuda Naoko, directed by Doi Nobuhiro and129

others, TBS) was also written by Nogi. A newly employed staff
called Kurosawa Kokoro (played by Kuroki Haru) used to be a judo
candidate to represent Japan but she had to end her career as an
athlete due to injury. In complete contrast, she finds a job at a major
publisher, where she starts working in the editorial department for aweekly comic magazine. The drama is set in a workplace, where an
ex-athlete editorial staff stimulates fellow editorial staff and comic
artists with her never-give-up attitude. In order to find out how
comic books are dealt with at bookstores, she checks a hundred andtwenty stores on the list of bookstores and visits them, crossing
several pedestrian bridges. As mentioned above, Nogi carefully
depicted the romantic situation in Nigeru wa Haji daga Yakunitatsu,
but in this drama, the new editorial staff’s everyday life is portrayedcarefully instead, and the way Kokoro performs her job is realistic

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

TELEVISION DRAMAS

and compelling. Kuroki’s performance that is full of cheerfulness
and bursting with energy against the backdrop of carefully depicted
everyday workplace scenes is moving, as it makes us feel good towatch someone ‘doing their best’.
Yutori desu ga Nanika (We’re Millenials. Got a Problem?, directedby Mizuta Nobuo and others, NTV) is an ensemble drama depicting
young people categorized as ‘Yutori generation’(*). Three young peopleof the first wave of the Yutori generation (in their late twenties),
namely Sakama Masakazu (played by Okada Masaki), who is thesecond son to the owner of a sake brewery and now working at a foodcompany, Yamaji Kazutoyo (played by Matsuzaka Tōri), who is a
primary school teacher, and Michigami Maribu (played by Yagira
130Yūya), who works as a gee man of a dodgy hostess bar without fully
becoming mature as a person, get on with their lives despite adversities related to work or relationships at their workplaces. The portrayalof the three characters and their exchange of quips are interesting, andalso the problems of their families (played by Takahashi Yō, Yoshida
Kōtaro and others), and their bosses and colleagues (played by Andō
Sakura, Taiga and others) at their workplace are tactfully entwined.
At first, the viewers may feel reluctant to lump characters of a certain
generation together but gradually the theme is linked to the society
itself that has not fully matured, giving a light but deep impression to
the drama, which is also the unique characteristic of Kudō Kankurō’s
writing style. This production won the Best Drama Award in the
Serial Drama category of the Tokyo Drama Awards 2016.
In 2014, Yamada Taichi (screenwriter) portrayed the traumas ofmany people after the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on

March 11, 2011 through families that were afflicted or managed toescape harm in his work Toki wa Tachidomaranai (literal title: Time
Does Not Stop, TV Asahi). In the Yamada Taichi Drama Special
Gonen me no Hitori (literal title: The Fifth Year Alone, TV Asahi),
which was made two years later, Yamada once again quietly looked at
the traumas from the earthquake disaster. Kizaki Shūji (played by
Watanabe Ken), who has lost eight family members in the earthquake
disaster, becomes captivated by Matsunaga Ami (played by MakitaAju) when he sees her perform a dance at the junior high school
culture festival, because Ami looks exactly like his deceased daughter.
He speaks to her on her way back from school, and after while, Shūji,
who has been deprived of everything by the earthquake disaster, is
moved by the kindness of Ami, who is unconnected with the disaster,
comes to terms with his losses and takes a step toward the future.
131

Above all, the portrayal of Ami, played by Makita, expressing her
kindness bluffly and gradually easing Shūji’s heart is discreet but compelling. The way Horikawa Tonkou directed the drama with asubdued tone also made a good impression. There is a scene in which
Shūji and Ami nervously look at the photograph of Shūji’s daughter,and even in such seemingly small details, it makes us feel strongly that
endless time is needed to accept the loss. The quiet and gentle waythat Yamada Taichi had been watching time pass by after the disastercame as a surprise again, and the drama won the Award for Excellenceat the National Arts Festival.
In order to distribute Japanese TV dramas abroad, many rods
(frequency of broadcasting) are required. TV dramas in Southeast
Asia are often broadcast on weekends (two episodes in the weekend.)
Therefore, if the series only has eight or ten episodes, it would only

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

TELEVISION DRAMAS

last for a month or so, making it unrealistic to get the customers to
buy it. In this respect, the fact that the pay-TV station WOWOW
took on the challenge of making a twenty-episode serial drama withthe title Shizumanu Taiyō (literal title: The Never-setting Sun, known
as The Unbroken in the U.S., based on the novel by Yamasaki Toyoko,
screenplay written by Maekawa Yōichi and directed by Mizutani
Toshiyuki and others) had great significance. WOWOW’s programming of serial dramas consists of large scale human dramas withsocial themes, and this drama also unveils the backstory about poor
working conditions behind the tragic plane crash. Hajime Onchi(played by Kamikawa Takaya), who used to be the chairman of theairline’s labor union, goes through hard struggles after he clashedwith the management team and it is depicted with depth and in detailover twenty episodes. The series won the Best Drama Award in the132

Serial Drama category of the Tokyo Drama Awards 2016.
* Yutori education: The education policy adopted by the government fromaround 1980 to the beginning of 2010s following a curriculum guideline aimingfor ‘pressure-free schools’ to focus more on experiences that would develop thecapacity to think rather than cramming, through which the time and content
of learning were reduced. It was also criticized for lowering academic ability.

Kōtaki, Tetsuya
Kōtaki Tetsuya is a critic and professor emeritus at Nihon University College ofArt, specializing on the cultural history of television. He is also the standing
director of the Japan Council for Better Radio and Television, senior advisor to
the Executive Committee of the International Drama Festival in Tokyo, directorof National Consortium to Promote Archiving of Scripts and a member of the
Broadcast Program Collection Advising Committee. He has headed the selection
committee for the Galaxy Award, is also a member of the jury in the Arts Festival
sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs and is on the Broadcasting Ethics
Committee of Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization (BPO).
Among other books, he has written and compiled Handbook of Television History(Terebishi Handobukku) (Jiyū Kokuminsha) and was a co-writer on The Fifty Years
of Writers for Television (Terebi Sakkatachi no Gojūnen) (NHK Publishing).
(Translation: Sumida Michiyo)

シアター
トピックス

D e ve l o p m e n t s i n J a p a n a n d O ve r s e a s

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

134

Valery Gergiev, Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Theatre, makes his speech at the opening of
the exhibition. Photo by Valentin Baranovsky © State Academic Mariinsky Theatre

Developments in Japan and Overseas

100 Years of Russo-Japanese Cultural
Exchanges in Ballet:
The First Ballet Performanceat the Imperial Theatre in Japan
Kawashima Kyoko
For about a month starting on June 16th, 2016, the Mariinsky Theatrein St. Petersburg hosted an exhibition titled the “Pure Art (Geijutsu
no Seizui): Dedicated to 100 years of the first Russian ballet’s tour toJapan.”(*) This exhibition was about the first real ballet in Japan; itwas performed by Elena Smirnova and Boris Romanov
who, 100 years ago, had been invited by the Imperial
Theatre in Tokyo. The hall on the second floor of the Mariinski Theatre displayed the performance programs, newspaper articles, fan letters, and references of their visits toJapan, all of which were discovered in 2015.
In the history of ballet in Japan, the first “western
dance” performed in the country was “Flower Dance” at
the inauguration ceremony of the Imperial Theatre – thefirst western proscenium stage in Japan – on March 1st and 2nd, 1911.
Dancers were the actresses of “School of Arts Affiliated with theImperial Theatre,” founded prior to building the Imperial Theatre.
An Australian dance teacher, Ms. M ī kusu (unknown spelling in
English), choreographed and taught the work. Subsequently, from135

May 10th to 17th, 1911, “Crowd Ballet”, a work choreographed by Ms.
M ī kusu was performed. This was the first time when the term

The exhibition in the Mariinsky Theatre
Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS“ballet” was used to describe a theatre work in Japan. However, basedon the surviving pictures and the reputation of Ms. Mīkusu, it seems
likely that the work was far from an orthodox ballet.
The newly opened Imperial Theatre had an agenda of “creating
Japanese operas,” and established an opera department. In October
1912, Giovanni Vittorio Rosi was brought to the Imperial Theater as
the replacement for Ms. Mīkusu. Rosi, a disciple of Enrico Cecchetti,
the notable ballet teacher in the Milan Scalar Theatre, had been an
active choreographer and dancer in London. He was noticed by theformer managing director of the Imperial Theatre, Nishino
Keinosuke. With his rich experience in ballet, Rosi could be considered the “first” ballet teacher in Japan. However, his strict teaching
methods were neither understood nor well received by his students inJapan, where nothing regarding ballet had ever been seen. They
136

rebelled against Rosi and ballet, and in turn they became interested inmodern dance as a counter theatre dance to ballet, with the guidanceof the Japanese theatre intellectuals who had been abroad such ascomposer Yamada Kōsaku and director and playwright Osanai
Kaoru. The Imperial Theatre Opera Department headed by Rosi was
dissolved in May 1916, and he was dismissed. A month later modern
dance in Japan started at the Imperial Theatre. Coincidentally, Ishii
Baku, a first generation student of theImperial Theatre Opera Department
School who was the most rebellious
against Rosi, presented his own work “A
Page in the Diary” as the first Japanesecreative dance in “The New Theatre (Shingekijō)”, a group formed by Ishii, together
with Osanai Kaoru and Yamada Kōsaku.
Elena Smirnova (left) and Boris Romanov (right)

A program of Elena Smirnova’s performance in Japan (owned by the author)

137

At this point, synchronicity occurred in the western dance history ofJapan: in the same month – June 1916 – Elena Smirnova gave the firstballet performance in Japan.
Her performance was realized with the support of Ambassador to Russia Motono Ichirō, as a part of cultural exchanges under
the fourth Russo-Japanese Agreement, which was signed on July
3rd, 1916. During three days from the 16th to the 18th of June,
1916, five Russian ballet artists visited Japan: Smirnova, Boris
Romanov, pianist-dancer Olga Oblakova, pianist Van Brugh, andcostumer Bohinova.
The exiting program notes of their performance in Japan mentions 17 pieces: ‘Pas de deux’ from the ballet “Swan Lake”; “TheDying Swan”; “Seguidilla”; “Night”; ‘The Fairy Queen’ from theTheatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

ballet “The Little Humpbacked Horse”;“Nocturne”, and others. “The Triple
Alliance”, a special piece created for their
tour to Japan, was the choreography by
Romanov with newly composed music by
Boris Asafiev.
Smirnova and Romanov (who later
became a married couple), the Mariinsky
Theatre’s dancers, had joined Ballets
Russes. Smirnova was one of the principals together with Adolph Bolm in theinaugural performance of Ballet Russes
in 1909. Previously she had danced in“Polka With A Little Balls” in 1905, and138“Divertissement—the Valse Fantasia”
Elena Smirnova in ‘The Fairy Queen’ from the Ballet“The Little Humpbacked Horse”

in 1906 as a dance partner to Vaslav
Nijinsky under the direction of Mikhail
Fokin. She, who clearly had had a prestigious career in Russia, danced “TheDying Swan” in Japan. Romanov had
been a character dancer and choreographer and eventually became a directorof the Mariinsky Theatre. He choreographed “La Tragédie de Salomé” in 1913,
and “Le Rossignol” in 1914 for Ballets
Russes. It could be said, based on theirestablished, high profile careers in danceas well as the pieces performed, that
this June 1916 performance was the first

A newspaper advertisement of Smirnova’s
performance in Japan (“Metropolitan Newspaper[Miyako Shimbun]”, on June 16th, 1916)

orthodox ballet concert presented in Japan.
However it is hard to say that this performance was properly
appreciated at that time. Although many newspaper companies had
welcomed their visits to Japan, there were very few positive reviews.
In the review dialogs between Yamada Kōsaku and Ishii Baku,
the leaders of western dance in Japan, Yamada said, “I was rather
disturbed by the form of Smirnova’s showing her back and movements from her shoulders to her wrists that expressed a dying state,because they were too realistic. I could not help thinking that theold-fashioned dancers in the Russian ballet did not truly understandmusic.” Ishii said, “I thought so. In their performance music was justa mere accompaniment to movement. Music and movement must
be more intimate.” (‘Dance of Smirnova, the Russian ambassadorial actress’ from the “New Theatre Arts (Shin-engei)”, August 1916.)
Thus, they were highly critical of the performance. Ashihara Eiryō

139

later stated, “There were very small audiences, and little feedback ofthis performance. It was totally forgotten. Japan had not yet entered
its receptive state. No fruits came out from it.” (‘On Foreign Ballet’
from the “Japanese Ballet Yearbook of 1972”, p. 248, May 1972.) This
performance came to Japan too early, did not seem to leave any footprint to the history of ballet in Japan, and has not been well remembered. Therefore, this latest exhibition in Russia on this performance
was such a bolt out of the blue.
As previously discussed, the Russian ballet dancers’ visits toJapan had a diplomatic purpose, and was viewed as one of the ongoing
Russo-Japanese cultural exchanges; Smirnova met many people andparticipated in cultural exchange activities. She went to Kōyō-kan,
the high society club in Shiba, together with the Imperial Theatre

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

actresses Mori Ritsuko and Murata Kakuko, and learned from theentertainers how to throw a Japanese dance fan (ōgi), and how to playa hand drum (tsuzumi). Also, there was a heart-warming descriptionthat she studied with Fujima Tōzō, the Japanese traditional dance
master, and practiced a traditional Japanese dance piece, “A Lover’s
Eastbound Boat (Asazuma bune)”, wearing a kimono. On the other
hand, the Mariinsky Theatre exhibition revealed the relationshipbetween Russo-Japanese diplomacy and this ballet performance. The
visit of Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia in the previous
year had greatly contributed to the successful conclusion of the fourth
Russo-Japanese Agreement. In September, a few months after the
Agreement was signed, Kaninnomiya Kotohito, the Imperial prince,
visited Russia as the return delegate. Smirnova’s Japanese performance occurred between Grand Duke George Mikhailovich’s visit to140

Japan and the Agreement signing. This 2016 exhibition newly
revealed the fact that ballet played a role in diplomacy during the visitof the Japanese Imperial prince to Russia. On September 18th, 1916,
the Mariinsky Theatre invited Prince Kaninnomiya to the performance of a special version of a Russian ballet piece, “The Little
Humpbacked Horse (Конёк-горбунок)”, in which a Japanese dance
was added to the divertissement of folk dance in Act Five, thewedding scene. Of course, Elena Smirnova danced the Japanese
dance. The dance was titled “Hokushu (Японскій танецъ

Хоку-сю)”. The newspaper advertisement described it as “the piecere-staged by Boris Romanov at the suggestion of choreographer Tozo
in Tokyo; music was composed by Boris Asafiev based on a piece bycomposer Kōsaku Yamada.” This description and the Japanese news
articles on the Russian dancers’ visit indicate that Tozo was Fujima
Tōzō who taught the Japanese traditional dance to Smirnova. Earlymodern Japanese theatre scholar
Tove Bjoerk suggests that it was thekiyomoto piece “Northen Pleasure
Quarters (Hokushū)”which was performed. Smirnova then showed theresult of her study in front of theJapanese prince. Sait ō Keiko, ascholar who researched the Russianballet and Japonism, found that Japanese music had already been used in
Russian ballet by the time of
Smirnova’s performance. However,this ballet performance was probably the first Japanese dance per141

formed in Russia.
Thus, gradually the way was
paved for Russo -Japanese cultural exchanges in ballet, but thefollowing year, 1917, the Russian“New Performing Arts (Shin Engei)” August 1916

Revolution suddenly closed the way.
However, the transplanting of ballet from Russia to Japan ironicallyintensified, because exiled Russians supporting the old regime cameto Japan, and toured across Japan in various civilian cultural exchange
events. In 1922 Anna Pavlova and her group came to perform inJapan, and in 1925 Elena Pavlova established the first ballet school inJapan. In 1936 Olga Sapphire established the ballet team of the Japan
Theatre (Nichigeki) Music Hall. Thus, the development of ballet in
Japan was largely influenced by Russia. Ballet gradually settled in as a

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

new culture, rising in popularity to the level of a fad in the 1950’s after
the Second World War. Forty years after Smirnova’s performance at
the Imperial Theatre, in 1956 the Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration led
to restoration of diplomatic relations. One year later in 1957, ballet
performances in larger scales were conducted as diplomatic cultural
exchanges in both Japan and the Soviet Union, that is the Bolshoi
Theatre ballet’s first performance in Japan. So-called “propaganda
ballets” full of energy and dynamism had a huge impact on their
Japanese audiences, especially on the Japanese ballet world. Natalia
Kasatkina, the Bolshoi soloist, danced “Cherry Blossoms (Sakura
sakura)” in a kimono every night to enhance the celebratory moodof restoration of diplomatic relations between Japan and Soviet. This
year – 2017 – marks the 60 year anniversary of this performance. In
June, the Bolshoi Ballet will produce a 60th anniversary performance142

of its first tour in Japan.
*T his exhibition was held for about a month at the Mariinsky Theatre in St.
Petersburg, and then it was brought to the State Academic Mariinsky Theatre
Primorsky Stage in Vladivostok. In the end of 2016 – at the time of Russian
President Putin’s visit to Japan – it premiered in Japan at the Russian Embassyon December 26, 2016. At these exhibitions, the film featuring Elena Smirnova,“Ballerina’s Roman” (Роман балерины)(1916)” and the film of Prince Kaninnomiya
Kotohito’s visit to Russia were shown together with the other resources.

Kawashima, Kyōko
Kawashima Kyoko, PhD., currently serves as a visiting scholar at Waseda
University’s Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum. She is also a lecturer at
Waseda University, Kyoritsu Women’s University, and Senzoku Gakuen Collegeof Music. She specializes in dance studies, especially the history of ballet in
Japan. She was a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York City, alecturer at Hosei University, and an assistant professor at Waseda University’s
School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Her book, Elena Pavlova: the Motherof the Japanese Ballet was published in March 2012.
(Translation: Satō Michiyo)

Amakudari no Mai performance at the MCYCD Theatre

143

Developments in Japan and Overseas

Fujairah International Arts Festival
ReportSota Shuji
In February of 2016, the first Fujairah International Arts Festival washeld in Fujairah of the United Arab Emirates, and the Hayachine
Take Kagura Troupe (The Take Kagura Preservation Society,Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture) participated.
This came about as a result of the response of the International
Theatre Institute (ITI) Japan Centre to the request of the actor anddirector, Ali Mahdi Nouri (United Nations Goodwill Ambassador)

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

from Sudan, whom the ITI in 2015 invited as a special guest, and who
happened to be a committee member of the said Festival. (The ITIJapan Center had sent him a letter of invitation in December of thesame year, to take part in their project, ‘Theatre Born in Conflict
Zones’ - a link in the chain of their ‘initiative to train up-and-coming
artists in order to create culture of the next era’, sponsored by the
Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Hayachine Take Kagura is a representative of Japan’s Folk Performing Arts, and is also well-known abroad. In 2009 it was designated a ‘World Cultural Heritage’ by UNESCO (United Nations
Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization) and as the country
hosting the selection committee at that time happened to be theUnited Arab Emirate, there was already a connection, and so thetroupe graciously made the decision to participate in response to the144sudden invitation.
The United Arab Emirates overall consists of seven Emirates
in the Arab Peninsula forming one Federation. Generally, among
the Emirates, Abu Dhabi and Dubai with their large international

Opening Show – an introduction to the history of the founding of the country

Gongen Mai performance at the MCYCD Theatre

airports are the best-known. Fujairah, in comparison could not be
considered to have quite as high a profile. As one would expect, it’s asmall country with a population of less than 120,000 people, amount-145

ing to 3% of the total population of the United Arab Emirate. On thisoccasion, the Hayachine Take Kagura Troupe (Oguni Tomomi, thechairperson and 10 members) arrived in Dubai Airport on February
18th, and from there made their way by car through the rocky desert
to Fujairah.
Fujairah is a modern city built in an oasis. Along the way, large
posters and banners advertising the Arts Festival hanging by the sideof the road, caught our eye. Upon entering the hotel room, there
were TV commercials advertising the Festival; it was clear that the
government was making an effort to play its part in ensuring the
success of the event.
The Hayachine Take Kagura performances were held twice, on
February 20th and 21st. The venue for the first day was the MCYCD
Theatre (Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development,

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

approx. 200 seats) located in Fujairah City. This being a Theatre of the
Emirate (not of the king), there is, hanging at the front entrance, a
portrait of the Emir and his family. There were three pieces performed: Mountain God’s Dance (Yama no Kami Mai), Dance of theDescent of God from Heaven (Amakudari no Mai) and The Buddha
Avatar Dance (Gongen Mai). The performance was covered by a local
television station. After the performance, the sponsors presented
Oguni, the leader of the troupe, with some gifts.
On the second day, the performance was held at the Monodrama House, a theatre located in the town of Dibba, a short distance from Fujairah.
Within this structure, apart from the theatre, there is also an
open-air stage facing the courtyard. There were a number of foodstands and stalls set up for the occasion and the turnout was quite
146

large for the performance that was held in a relaxed atmosphere. The
program on this day began as the sun was setting. There were fourOguni onstage being presented with a memento after the performancepieces performed: The Dance of Sanbaso (Sanbaso Mai), Dance of theFive Grains (Gokoku Mai), The Prayer Dance (Fūshō no Mai) and The
Buddha Avatar Dance (Gongen Mai). For these performances, as an
aid to help audience understanding, a simple commentary was provided before each piece. The interpreting for this occasion was doneby Watanabe Maho who stood at the side of the stage dressed in the
costume for the Female Dance of the Kagura (the Take Kagura
Troupe had brought all their costumes over from Japan) and read thecommentary aloud in both Arabian and English. Hayachine Take
Kagura, an example of a folk performing art that has been handed
down within a modern local community, while preserving its tradition from ancient times. The troupe has had many opportunities toperform abroad and so it seemed ideally suited to be a guest at
Fujairah’s first International Arts Festival.
Glancing at the list of theatre companies taking part in this arts

147

festival, besides those from the UAE, in the Music category, we see
participants from Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Georgia,
Morocco, Spain, Brazil, Costa Rica, Japan, India and the Philippines,
a total of thirteen countries represented. In addition, at the same timethat this festival was being held, the Fujairah International Monodrama Festival, held once every two years, was also taking place. This
year marks the seventh time Fujairah has sponsored this event, which
had fourteen works participating.
For the first-time festival, a preliminary report publication(booklet) was issued every day and there was a staff made up of University students helping out as volunteers, which gave an air of a realinternational festival to the operations.
The festival held its opening performance near the center of thetown, where a special outdoor stage had been set up for the occasion

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

Gokoku Mai performance at the Outdoor Stage of the courtyard of the Monodrama Houseon February 19th, and the Emirate of Fujairah attended. There was,148

as one often sees in international cultural events such as this, a show,
which was a collection of episodes surrounding the history of thebuilding of the nation in a gigantic production; the space set aside forthe television cameras was quite enormous.
Incidentally, during this same period, the ITI Board of Directors
was also being held in Fujairah. In the capital of Armenia, Yerevan, at
the ITI World Congress, Ramendu Majumdar, who had served for along period as the President of the International Theatre Institute,
stepped down and from among the Board in November 2014, andMohammed Saif Al-Afkham of the United Arab Emirates wasappointed as the new ITI President at ITI headquarters. He comesfrom the vantage point of being Fujairah’s Director General of the
Culture Media Department.
In their hosting of this festival, we can say that we have observed
the enthusiasm of the ITI Fujairah Centre for encouraging a much

greater awareness of the Middle East/Arab region than previously. We
hope to see the spirit embraced by this festival leading to more attention being given to Middle Eastern/Arabian theatre and dance news
in the future.
Sota, Shūji
Professor at Atomi University Faculty of Management (2002-). From November
2009, the Secretary General of the International Theatre Institute Japan Centre,
becoming, on the occasion of its incorporation (2013), this Centre’s Managing
Director. On the Board of Directors of the Japan Association for Cultural Policy
Research; The Japan Society for Social Design Studies etc. and a member ofcommittees of numerous municipalities.
(Translation: James Ferner)

149

The Front of the MCYCD Theatre

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

150

The "Umeda Bunraku 2016" performance at the Knowledge Theatre, which is directly
accessible from Osaka Station. Photo courtesy of Umeda Bunraku.

Developments in Japan and Overseas

Bunraku: Recent Challenges &Developments
Kameoka Noriko
Reduction of Osaka Municipal Subsidy Sparks Crisis
The Bunraku puppet theatre (ningyō jō ruri) was created in
the city of Osaka. Its history dates back over 350 years. In 2003, it
was added to UNESCO’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In the mid-eighteenth century, it was said thatthe puppet theatre eclipsed even kabuki in popularity, creatinga string of dramatic masterpieces including The Treasury of Loyal

Retainers (Kanadehon chūshingura), Yoshitsune and the Thousand
Cherry Trees (Yoshitsune senbon zakura), and Sugawara and the Secretsof Calligraphy (Sugawara denju tenarai kagami).
However, since the late 19th century, in spite of nurturing many
outstanding performers, Bunraku has faced more trying times. With
the growth of labor unions after the end of the war, the theatre evensplit into two rival factions for a time. But through each period ofcrisis, Bunraku has always been able to rally and survive, and to continue to attract adoring audiences.
In recent years, however, Bunraku has been threatened by an
unprecedented crisis. Since 1963, Bunraku performers (chanters,
shamisen players, and puppeteers) and provincial performances havebeen managed by a non-profit foundation called the Bunraku Kyōkai
which is supported by subsidies from the Japanese state, and the151

Osaka prefectural and municipal governments. But in late 2011, themunicipal government of its now ex-mayor Hashimoto Tōru suddenly announced that it wanted to review the subsidy it provides tothe Bunraku Kyōkai. After various twists and turns, including ameeting between Hashimoto and the performers, the two sides
finally agreed on an incentive scheme. Over the next two years, thepayment of the subsidy would depend on increased audience numbers.
In 2013, the subsidy was reduced but in 2014 the target was exceeded
and a full subsidy was received.
However, the fundamental problems of funding have not yet
been resolved. In 2015, the subsidy that covered the running costs of
Bunraku Kyōkai was withdrawn, meaning that the organization must
now apply for funding for each event it wishes to organize. Still, even
if all funding for the Bunraku Kyōkai were to be withdrawn, performances would not immediately cease. Regular performances in Osaka

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

and Tokyo and the management of Osaka’s National Bunraku
Theatre are under the control of the Japan Arts Council (Nihon
Geijutsu Bunka Shinkōkai), an administrative organization under thejurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Scienceand Technology’s Agency of Cultural Affairs, but provincial and overseas performances are organized by the Bunraku Kyōkai itself, sothese activities would almost certainly be affected by any loss offunding. Many other issues remain, such as the Bunraku Kyōkai’s roleas the umbrella organization for the performers.
But there are also ways in which silver linings have been found in
the funding crisis. The performers and the National Bunraku Theatreorganization discovered a common interest in pulling together topromote Bunraku to the outside world. Citizens’ groups to support
the theatre were formed. As the unique art of Bunraku tries to chart152

the course to its future survival, these endeavors will increasingly
become points of focus and expectation.

New Works: Comedies, Translations, and Family-Friendly Plays
One of the most notable recent developments has been the creation of new plays for Bunraku. Regular programs are mainly composed of classical works first performed in the Tokugawa period, withvery few newly written plays. Comedies are equally rare. So the creation of a new comic play for Bunraku, entitled Much Ado about Love
Suicides (Sorenari shinjū) by Mitani Kōki, one of contemporary Japan’s
most popular dramatists, attracted much attention.
The play opened in 2012 at the Parco Theatre in Tokyo’s Shibuya
district, and the theatre was packed with young people and fans ofmodern theatre who had never seen Bunraku before. The play was acomedy, ripe with Mitani’s very distinctive brand of humor, and based

on Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s classic The Love Suicides at Sonezaki(Sonezaki shinjū, 1703). Mitani has been a fan of puppets since childhood and is interested in Bunraku, so his staging was respectful
towards the theatre genre, while still succeeding in reducing the audience to fits of laughter. The play broke new ground for Bunraku inseveral ways. Bunraku chanters and shamisen players always sit atstage-left, but Mitani instead placed them on a mobile platform at therear of the stage. In one scene he even had the puppets swimming.
“He succeeded in destroying our accepted ideas, but still retained theessence of Bunraku,” commented puppeteer Yoshida Ichisuke who
performed the lead role. It is equally good news that the play has been
revived several times since its first run.

153

Mitani Bunraku, {Much Ado about Love Suicides}, July 2016 performance in Osaka.
Produced by Parco Co., Ltd., Kansai Telecasting Corporation, and Sunrise Promotion
Osaka, Inc., with the cooperation of National Bunraku Theatre, Bunraku Association.
Photo by Osako Futoshi.

Another important development is “Sugimoto Bunraku”,
directed by the internationally renowned contemporary artist

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

Sugimoto Hiroshi. The first performance premiered in 2011 and wasanother adaptation of Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s The Love Suicides
at Sonezaki. Sugimoto’s staging included a revival of the opening
Kannon Pilgrimage (Kannon meguri ) scene that had fallen out of contemporary performance. Other innovations included digital projections by the avant-garde artist Tabaimo, and the use of one-man puppetry techniques that were in use when Chikamatsu was writing.
Sugimoto’s approach to Bunraku was thus a blend of old and new,East and West (the heroine, Ohatsu, wore a Hermes scarf as part ofher costume). Overseas performances in Paris and other European
cities were very well received.
In kabuki too, the younger generation of stars have recently
begun to stage new plays, for example Ichikawa Ennosuke IV’s Super
Kabuki play, One Piece, which is based on a popular manga. Bunraku’s
154

creation of new plays must be seen in this context, as part of a wider
move towards the new in Japan’s traditional performing arts.
Even the National Bunraku Theatre has been adding performances of new plays to its regular schedule. Every year since 2014, thesummer performances have showcased a newly written play forparents and children. Thunder Drum (Kaminari taikō), by the rakugo
writer Osada Sadao, delighted audiences with its gentle humor. Thiswas followed in 2015 by Takeda Masako’s The Amazing Bean Tree(Fushigi na mame no ki), an adaptation of the fairy tale Jack and theBeanstalk. In 2016, an adaptation of the Chinese classic Journey to theWest (Saiyūki Go West! ) showed the passionate commitment of Bunraku’s backstage staff and performers to create something new in its
script, music, production and staging.
While not strictly speaking newly written works, there were twoother performances that should be mentioned. The 2016 summer lateshow saw the first staging of an adaptation of Molière’s The Miser(Japanese title: Karatsubo oyaji koi no tatehiki), the only Bunraku playby one of Japan’s leading contemporary dramatists, Inoue Hisashi.
Falstaff (Farusu no taifu), a play featuring Shakespeare’s famous character but set in Japan, was staged at the National Theatre’s Small
Theatre in Tokyo in 2014. With their biting satire, both works pointed
to a new direction for adult-orientated new plays.

Self-help Strategies: Funding from Private Organizations;the Creation of New Audiences
Another important recent development has been the increase of
performances held outside of Bunraku’s normal theatres. In March
2015, Bunraku held its first ever outdoors performance, on a temporary stage of cypress wood erected amid the high-rise buildings of155

Tokyo’s Roppongi district. This “Nippon Bunraku” performance wasfunded by The Nippon Foundation, one of Japan’s largest non-profit
organizations.
One of the more groundbreaking elements of this event wasthat members of the audience were free to eat and drink during theperformance. People often have a perception of Bunraku as being
difficult to understand, but this event allowed them to have a drink
and approach the drama in a far more relaxed frame of mind. As
such, it succeeded in showing some of the pleasures of Bunraku tospectators who were encountering it for the first time. The Nippon
Bunraku performances have continued: in October 2015 in Osaka,
and October 2016 in Tokyo’s Asakusa district. It is planned to continue these performances nationwide until the Tokyo Olympics andParalympics in 2020.
In 2015, five of Osaka’s private broadcasters joined hands to stage

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS“Umeda Bunraku” inthe Knowledge Theatre
in Grand Front Osaka,
a commercial complex
near Osaka Stationthat is very popularwith young people.
The temporary cypress-wood stage erected amongst the skyscrapers forthe "Nippon Bunraku in Roppongi Hills" event. Photo courtesy of Nippon
Foundation.

The event showcased
the skills of theyounger generation of
performers, those in
their twenties, thirties
and forties. The event
has become an ongoing156

one, and 2017 will see
the third run of
performances.
Against this background of increased
privately funded per-Performance of The Two Sanbasōs (Ninin Sanbasō), bunraku's first everoutdoor performance, part of the "Nippon Bunraku in Roppongi Hills"
event. Photo courtesy of Nippon Foundation with the cooperation of
Ningyō Jōruri Bunraku-za Mutsumi-kai.

formances, I should
also mention the activities of the Ning y ōJ ō ruri Bunrakuza, a

non-profit organization run by performer volunteers with the aim of
spreading knowledge about Bunraku. In 2014, the organization began
mounting a series of “One-Coin Bunraku” performances. The aim is
to attract new audiences to Bunraku, and they target workers andstudents under the age of thirty, who live in the wider Kansai area.

The young performers from the Umeda Bunraku performance supported by Mainichi
Broadcasting System (Osaka), Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, T V Osaka, Kansai
Telecasting Corporation, and Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation.

For just 500 yen, they can watch a Bunraku performance from thebest seats at the National Bunraku Theatre. This initiative was fundedwith help from donations from private companies, organized through157

the non-profit organization Arts Support Kansai.
In these ways, Bunraku is creating multiple new routes for people
to come into contact with the theatre, particularly those who havenever seen a Bunraku performance before.

Turning a Minus into a Plus: Retirements and Name Changes
In the middle of all these crises, this has also been a period ofgenerational change for Bunraku. 2014 saw the much-lamented retirement of the chanter Takemoto Sumitayū, a Living National Treasure
who had reigned for many years as the theatre’s top performer. He
was the face of Bunraku, a performer who enchanted fans with therichness of his narration. Sumitay ū was also the first Bunraku performer in the theatre’s history to be awarded the Order of Culture.
Sumitay ū was followed into retirement by another Living
National Treasure, the chanter Takemoto Genday ū, as well as the
Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

chanter Toyotake Shimatayū, and the puppeteer Yoshida Bunjaku. Allfour were mainstays who had led the theatre since the post-war period,
and their retirement triggered a generational change for Bunraku.
The April 2016 performance of Mt. Imo and Mt. Se: An
Exemplary Tale of Womanly Virtue (Imoseyama onna teikin) provides
a good example of this change. When the play was last performed
in 2010, the central scene was chanted by Genday ū and Sumitay ū,
who were then in their late seventies and early eighties respectively.
But in 2016, this scene was chanted by Takemoto Chitosedayū andToyotake Rosetayū who are both still in their fifties. Both chantersthrew all they have learnt into their performances and audienceswere greatly moved.
There have also been some notable name-taking (shūmei) ceremonies. In 2015, puppeteer Yoshida Tamajo succeeded to his teacher’s158

famous name, becoming Yoshida Tamao II. In April 2017, Toyotake
The name-taking ceremony for Yoshida Tamao II. Photo courtesy of National Bunraku
Theatre with the cooperation of Ningyō Jōruri Bunraku-za Mutsumi-kai.

Hanafusadayū will become Toyotake Rotayū VI, a name previously
held by his grandfather, the Living National Treasure Toyotake
Wakatayū X. It has also been announced that in January 2018 Toyotake Sakihodayū will become Takemoto Oritay ū VI, and in April
the same year the puppeteer Yoshida Kōsuke will succeed to his
grandfather’s name and become Yoshida Tamasuke V.
Name-taking ceremonies are important in terms of publicity, as
they attract attention even from people who are not regular theatregoers. They are even more important at this particular moment, when
Bunraku audiences are rising. It’s wonderful to see the full complement of Bunraku’s performers aggressively trying to usher the puppet
theatre into a new age of prosperity.
Kameoka, Noriko
Senior staff writer in the Culture Department, Sankei Shimbun. Born in Osaka in
1958. Graduated from the Department of Japanese Literature, Rikkyō University.
In 1990, she started to work at the Osaka head office of the national newspaper,
Sankei Shimbun. She has written widely on traditional drama including kabuki,
Bunraku, and noh, and published several books including Bunraku zanmai(Devoted to Bunraku) and Yume: Heisei no Tōjūrō Tanjō (Dream: The Birth of a Heisei
Tōjūrō), both published by Tankōsha.

159(Translation : Alan Cummings)

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

160

Ninagawa Macbeth, produced by Toho Co., Ltd. (1985, Amsterdam Municipal theatre, theNetherlands) : Hira Mikijirō (as Macbeth) and Kurihara Komaki (as Lady Macbeth) taking acurtain call. © Toho Co., Ltd. Theatrical Division

Developments in Japan and Overseas

Ninagawa Yukio :From 1960s Theatre Artist to Global Star
Takahashi Yutaka
The contemporary theatre world in Japan lost many great talents in
2016. In May, the director Ninagawa Yukio, who was acclaimed asa global star, died at the age of 80. In August, he was joined by the
82-year-old Hira Mikijirō, an actor who frequently played lead rolein Ninagawa’s productions. Both were giants of the theatre who wereactive in their fields for their entire lives.

I would like to look back on Ninagawa’s career, examining his
work as a director and its significance.
The first half of his life was filled with setbacks and difficulties. While a student at Kaisei Academy he failed to get into Tokyo
University of the Arts, so he became a trainee at the shingeki company
Gekidan Seihai. New actors were supposed to help backstage, but
Ninagawa never took up a hammer nor did a part-time job, acquiring the sobriquet of the “Aristocrat Actor.” Instead, he attended a
research group led by the company’s director, Kurahashi Takeshi,
who was a translator and lecturer at Waseda University, where theprocess of thoroughly analyzing the script was drummed into him. In
later years, this experience became the foundation for how Ninagawa
could always straightaway answer any question from foreign actors
when he was directing in the UK or elsewhere.
It was through Kurahashi that Ninagawa met the playwright161

Shimizu Kunio, who would be known as Ninagawa’s close ally.
Shimizu was then still a student at Waseda but Ninagawa recommended him to the company as someone who could write plays
for them. Though Shimizu wrote a script, it was criticized by themembers of the predominantly socialist-realist company as “lacking
in hope for the future” and only four members, including Kurahashi
and Ninagawa, vouched for it at a general meeting.
The internal cracks in the company started to come to thesurface. The director, Kurahashi, was angered by the lead actors
who did not heed his feedback on their flaws, and left the company.
Already over 30, Ninagawa wanted to make the switch from acting
to directing—and he asked Shimizu to write a play for him. Shimizu
wrote through the night, producing Such a Serious Frivolity (Shinjō
afururu keihakusa), but the company would not give Ninagawa

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

permission to direct it.
Directors who comefrom acting, they said,a r e fa m ou s a c t or s ,such as Senda Koreya
of Haiy ū za or Uno
J ū k ichi of Gek idan
Mingei. “As an actor,
you are far from theirlevel of talent, so directing is also beyond you,”Such a Serious Frivolity, Ninagawa’s debut work as director with Gendaijin
Gekijō (1969, Art Theatre Shinjuku Bunka, Tokyo) Young Man: Kanie Keizō(left), Woman 0: Mayama Tomoko (right) Photo courtesy of Ninagawa
Company

he was told.
In 1968, Ninagawa
left Seihai and founded

162

Gendaijin Gekijō (literally, Modern Man’s Theatre). The following
year, he made a stunning directing debut with a staging of Such a
Serious Frivolity at Art Theatre Shinjuku Bunka.
The second half of 1960s witnessed the peak of dissent from theyoung, especially in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district. Not only politicalstruggles and campus movements, this period also saw a floweringof theatre that rejected the conventional style of shingeki, which was
the mainstream at the time. Important companies appeared in quick
succession: Kara Jūrō’s Jōkyō Gekijō (literally, Situation Theatre),founded in 1963; Suzuki Tadashi’s Waseda Shōgekijō (Waseda Small
Theatre), founded in 1966; Satoh Makoto’s Jiy ū Gekijō (Freedom
Theatre), founded in 1967; and Terayama Shūji’s Tenjō Sajiki (CeilingGallery), also founded in 1967. Although disparaged as “underground”(angura), some of the groups that emerged from this movement werelater able singlehandedly to tour overseas and a better label is perhapsmore simply “1960s theatre.”
In this respect, the appearance of Gendaijin Gekijō in 1969 felt
somewhat late to the game, though actually seeing its productions I
admired how it excelled at bringing the audience into the experienceof live theatre. The performance started at 9:30 p.m., after the film
screening was over, and when the long line filed in to take up the seatsa few men and women started to fight in the passageway. When the
curtain finally went up, the audience was faced with a meandering
line of people on stage. Even after the play finished, the audience wasstill in for another surprise when they were suddenly surrounded bystaff dressed up as riot police!
Art Theatre Shinjuku Bunka was ostensibly a cinema, so thestage only had a depth of 4.5 meters. The set could take up a mere
2.5 meters. Even so, Ninagawa would astonish audiences with visuals,
163

such as the mountain of stupas he used for the Shimizu play Memoriesof 10,000 Years of Japan (Omoide no nihon ichimannen). He also borrowed techniques from Kabuki, such as the “curtain drop” to reveal a
new setting in a stunning way.
He continued to stage work that explored themes closely connected with the anti-establishment movements at the time, eventually going on to disband Gendaijin Gekijō and form a new group,
Sakura-sha (Cherry Blossom Company). His production of Won’t you
cry? Won’t you cry for 1973? (Nakanai no ka? Nakanai no ka, 1973 notame ni?) in 1973 was his last in Shinjuku.
At the start of 1974, he was contacted by a producer, Nakane
Tadao, in the theatre department of Tōhō, asking him to direct a production of Romeo and Juliet at the Nissay Theatre. He accepted. “It’sno good only keeping your expectations realistic,” he reasoned. “It

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

might transform me as a director by meeting new kinds of people.
Then I’ll return to Sakura-sha.”Romeo and Juliet would become Ninagawa’s first commercial
theatre production and his first time working in a large-scale venue.
For Ninagawa, who had demonstrated his ability to use space sowell in small venues, we can sense how he now wanted to stretch hiswings. Cloaked in darkness and silence, the stage was suddenly filledwith dazzling light. The sounds of bells rang out and a plaza filledwith a crowd of people. The stage featured a three-layered semi-circle, around which the careening love story unfolded. In what would
become known as a characteristic of Ninagawa’s work, the threeminutes after curtain-up already had the audience gripped, the stage
overflowing with a mob of people and deftly illuminating the social
classes that exist in the background of the story through the use of164

layers and steps.
After the Nissay Theatre run was over, a general meetingof Sakura-sha was held, during which many members criticized
Ninagawa for venturing into commercial theatre. The result was the
disbanding of the company. Ninagawa would later recall that he felt
ostracized, like he had been treated as a traitor. For the wounded
Ninagawa, salvation came in the form of the playwright Kara Jūrō,
who asked him to direct his new version of The Water Magician (Takino shiraito).
Ninagawa’s production of the Greek tragedy Medea premiered in
1978. The titular character kills her children in order to take revenge
on her faithless husband. In Ninagawa’s staging, the lead was playedby Hira Mikijirō and all the other female roles were also played bymen. Though Ōtake Shinobu did later play the role in a revival, at thattime the director felt that Japanese
actresses lacked the ability to express
the sorrow, enmity and magnitude ofrevenge exacted by this abandoned
and betrayed woman.
Double Suicide, After Chikamatsu(Chikamatsu shinjū monogatari),
which premiered in 1979 at theImperial Theatre, marked a decisive
point for Ninagawa’s reputation asa director. Adapted from the workof Chikamatsu Monzaemon, it was
written by Akimoto Matsuyo, a playwright regarded as somewhat aloof. “I

Medea, produced by Toho Co., Ltd. (1983)
Medea : Hira Mikijirō (right), Aegeus : Ōtomo Ryūzaburō (left)© Toho Co., Ltd. Theatrical Division

165

turned to the world of Chikamatsu,”
Ninagawa said, “because I wanted to make a piece of popular theatre
examining why double suicides are so admired and idealized by theJapanese.” He used water effects and 1.5 tons of confetti to create thefalling snow for the double suicide scene. But even more emotionally
powerful was the theme song by Mori Shinichi, “That is Love.”
Premiered in 1980, Ninagawa Macbeth used the name of thedirector in the title not in the commercial theatre sense of a “star” butto symbolize who was responsible for making the production as theleader of the creative team. And appropriately as a way of introducing
Ninagawa’s style, the staging featured plenty of his original touches
and later toured to Shakespeare’s home country of Britain.
Though following the original Shakespeare text, the production
transposed the period and setting from medieval Scotland to Japan
during the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568–1600), and became a

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

story of warriors who lived at the time. It was made further easier tounderstand for Japanese audiences by converting the entire stage intoa giant butsudan, a type of Buddhist altar typically found in homes
and temples. Staging the play in this way on a butsudan —a place
where the living and the dead meet— added a new depth and aesthetic
to Macbeth through an Oriental outlook on life and death that cannot
be found in British culture.
It was the producer Nakane who steered Ninagawa’s productions
overseas. His idea was first to perform them in the countries fromwhich the work originated. This began in 1983 with Medea, which
toured to two cities in Italy and Athens. In 1985, Ninagawa Macbeth
was performed in the Netherlands and then invited to Edinburgh
166

Medea has been presented all over the world since 1983. Photograph taken during the
fit-up at Roman Theatre in Jerash, Jordan. © Miyauchi Katsu, courtesy of Nakane Tadao

International Festival, where it was highly acclaimed.
One of those beguiled by Ninagawa’s staging in Edinburgh
was the British theatre producer Thelma Holt. Holt was in chargeof planning and publicity for the International Festival held in 1987
at the National Theatre in London, which featured the work of
directors and companies from four countries, including Ninagawa.
“Ninagawa’s work,” Holt said, “is visual and a delight to watch but
also overflows with stimulation for the mind. The use of music isalso superb and it is easy to understand for British audiences. I originally intended only to invite Ninagawa Macbeth but was impressed by
my later viewing of Medea, so I negotiated with producer Nakane tobring both to London.” The International Festival was a great successand Ninagawa was nominated for Director of the Year at the Olivier
Awards that year. While the award
ultimately eluded him, his acclaim
among the British theatre world

167

Tango, the End of Winter, co-produced by Thelma HoltCo., Ltd. & Point Tokyo Co., Ltd. (1991, Piccadilly Theatre,
London) Photo courtesy of Nakane Tadaogrew and he established himself as a
global director.
In 1991, he directed a British
cast in Shimizu Kunio’s Tango at theEnd of Winter (Tango, fuyu no owarini) for a two-month run in London’sWest End. The epoch-making production came about through thepartnership of two producers: theJapanese Nakane and the British
Holt. It was unconventional not
only for being Ninagawa’s first time
directing a cast of foreign actors

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

chosen by audition but also for its story of a retired actor at a dilapidated cinema in a small town along the Sea of Japan. The experienceof the various clashes of culture he had with the British performers
also contributed to Ninagawa’s continued development as a director.
From 1999 to 2000, Ninagawa became the first East Asian
director to stage Shakespeare’s King Lear for the Royal Shakespeare
Company (RSC), one of Britain’s most important theatre groups. As
Ninagawa commented on his sense of elation that relished the challenge: “It’s kind of like a British director staging Chūshingura at the
Kabuki-za.” The Japanese-British co-production saw the RSC castwork with a Japanese crew for rehearsals at the Saitama Arts Theaterin Saitama City. Following performances there, the much-discussed
production then toured to London and Stratford-upon-Avon, thebirthplace of Shakespeare and RSC home base.
168

Subsequently his work continued to tour overseas right up
until his last years, including Poison Boy (Shintokumaru) in London
in 1997 and Washington DC in 2008, Musashi in London and New
York in 2010 and again
in 2013–14, and Kafka
on the Shore (Umibe
no kafuka) in London,
New York, Singapore
and Seoul in 2015.
Though they had
parted company when
Sakura-sha disbanded,t he pa r tnersh ip of
Shimizu and Ninagawa

Kafka on the Shore (2015, Barbican Theatre, London) Kiba Katsumi (to theright) © Shu Tomioka

was restored in 1982. While his health later prevented Shimizu fromwriting new plays, Ninagawa returned to his early work to direct
them in new ways. In particular, Ninagawa revived Ravens, We Shall
Load Bullets (Karasu yo, oretachi wa tama o komeru) in 2013 with
Saitama Gold Theater, his troupe comprising only senior performers.
For someone who had seen the original Gendaijin Gekijō production,
the new staging brought tears to the eyes. That same year the production premiered overseas in France, where it was performed at Maisonde la Culture du Japon à Paris, followed by tours to Hong Kong
and Théâtre de la Ville – Paris in 2014. Casting senior performers in
the roles of the old women that were once played by young actors
felt natural and revitalized the play. I was touched by the friendshipbetween Shimizu and Ninagawa, who prayed for his long-time associate to be able to start writing again.
The sheer breadth of Ninagawa’s directing can be seen in his

169

career trajectory that started with shingeki before moving into angura
theatre as well as commercial theatre in large and medium-sizedvenues, and then also
small-scale theatreswith modestly sized,
nonprofit companies in
his final years. Entering the 21st century,
he launched two newg r oup s : t h e a for e mentioned Saitama
Gold Theater in 2006,
featuring performers
with an average age of
Saitama Gold Theater’s Ravens, We Shall Load Bullets (2014, Kwai Tsing
Theatre, Hong Kong) © Miyagawa Maiko
Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN and OVERSEAS

77, and Saitama Next Theatre for young actors in 2009. Ninagawa
successfully staged Shakespeare’s Richard II as a joint production withboth troupes, receiving the Hayakawa Tragedy and Comedy Awardand then visiting the International Shakespeare Festival in Romania
in 2016. This last triumph came exactly a month before his death.
Takahashi, Yutaka
Theatre critic, born in Yamagata Prefecture in 1945. He graduated with a degree
in French from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, going on to covercontemporary theatre and musicals for the Mainichi Shimbun. He is currently avisiting member of the editorial board. His publications include Chasing
Phantoms: The Half-Century of Actor Nakadai Tatsuya and The Legend of Ninagawa
Yukio.
(Translation: William Andrews)

170

Taken during rehearsals ofPeer Gynt at Royal Shakespeare
Company’s rehearsal room (1994)
Photo courtesy of Nakane Tadao

S PECIAL FE AT URE

171‘Theatre Born in Conflict Zones 8’

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

SPECIAL FEATURE

Djihad © Ishizawa Chieko

172

SPECIAL FEATURE

A Report on‘Theatre Born in Conflict Zones 8’
Theatre Standing Against The Time of Peril
Hayashi Hideki
During 2016, the world was shaken by conflicts, refugees and terrorism. Countries in Europe were overwhelmed at having to deal withfloods of refugees, which rekindled prejudice, discrimination, exclusionism and nationalism. In the 21st century, the world has beenheading toward coexistence of multiple cultures but as though it isgoing against the times, we are now in danger of division andopposition. In 2016, ITI Japan Centre made an attempt to respond to
this trend with two plays.
ITI Japan Centre is an international NGO under the umbrella of
UNESCO and has continued to carry out a series called ‘Theatre
Born in Conflict Zones’ (jointly hosted by Tokyo Metropolitan
Theatre, i.e. Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History andCulture) since 2009 as part of the research and study project for‘Theatre Yearbook’, which is a project commissioned by the Agency
for Cultural Affairs. Through the project, good plays still unknown
in Japan have been discovered, translated and introduced by means ofreadings and at the same time, in order to provide platforms for cultural exchange, playwrights and other people concerned have been
invited from abroad to give lectures and to take part in round-table
173

talks. Throughout the seven years since the series started, nineteen
plays have been introduced, out of which fourteen have been published as collections of plays. Amongst them are plays from countries
and regions, of which the theatre or performance cultures have notoften been introduced.
In the preamble to the UNESCO Constitution, which was
founded after the Second World War with the aim of not repeating
the tragedies of war, it is clearly written as follows: “Since wars begin
in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses ofpeace must be constructed.” For ‘Theatre Born in Conflict Zones 7’
held in 2015, we went back to the original objective of the project andmoved on with the planning based on such spirit. We invited Mr. Ali
Mahdi Nouri (Sudan / UNESCO’s Artist for Peace and Goodwill
Ambassador) from UNESCO’s headquarters and in the talk session,

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

SPECIAL FEATURE

he said, “It is easy to start a war but difficult to rebuild peace. That is
why artists and theatre is needed.” Hearing these words from theman who has continued peace-building activities through theatre in
the conflict-torn Sudan, where people have suffered for many years, I
was reminded again about the significance of this project.
While division and conflict is worsening due to increase inpoverty and widening of disparities, the role of theatre to promotemutual understanding and reconciliation crossing national boundaries
is becoming even more important. Bearing in mind such mission of
today’s theatre, we introduced two plays, one from Iran and the otherfrom Belgium, which were translated into Japanese and presented forthe first time in Japan at Atelier West of Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre
between December 14th (Wed) and 18th (Sun). After the opening
174

night, as the reputation about the project spread through social media,
the tickets for every performance got sold out and there were evensome standees.

<Performance>

White Rabbit, Red Rabbit (Iran)Written by Nassim Soleimanpour
Translated by Seki Tomoko
Performed by Hori Genki (Saitama Next Theatre): December 14
Urabe Fusako: December 15
Takata Keitoku (A Laboratory of Play: Ban’yu Inryoku): December 16
Mikari: December 17

The young Iranian playwright named Nassim Soleimanpour(born in 1981) was twenty-nine years old when he wrote a play about

White Rabbit, Red Rabbit - Lineup of the cast: Hori Genki (upper left), Urabe Fusako (upper
right), Takata Keitoku (lower left), Mikari (lower right)
Production shots were not taken by a professional photographer so as to maximize thecharacteristic of the play.

175

travelling around the world while remaining in his own country, as hecould not leave his country for having refused to serve in the army.
This play is ‘unusual’ in many aspects. Without any rehearsals or
directions, the actor cannot read the script before standing in front of
an audience. Those who have performed on stage can presumably
understand how much psychological pressure the situation would
create on the actors if they cannot read the script before the performance let alone not memorize the script. It is incomparable to nightmares that actors often have for not having memorized their lines intime for the performance. The actor has to stand before an audienceknowing absolutely nothing about the play. Was it intended to makethe actors share some sort of stringent ‘reality’ felt by the writer
through putting severe psychological pressure on them?

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

SPECIAL FEATURE

Soleimanpour wrote this play in 2010. He allegedly wrote itin Shiraz where the ancient city of Persepolis is located. Moreover,
he wrote it in English, which was probably not an easy task forhim by any means. Perhaps it was because he had hoped someone
outside Iran would pick up his message, become his voice and sendout his words. In 2009, the year before the play was written, there
was a movement for democratization in Iran known as the ‘GreenMovement’. After the pro-reform democratic presidential candidate
was defeated by a conservative hard-liner, demonstrations swept
across the nation, as people protested against the fraudulent election.
The Internet is said to have played a major role in the reform-seeking
movement, which occurred before the ‘Arab Spring’. However, theconnection between the real events and the play is not mentioned atall. Whether the writer was involved in this incident or not is not told176

either. Nevertheless, although it is only my guess, I think there musthave been some sort of deep connection,
In theatre, it is the actor that exists before an audience. Whenthe actor speaks, the audience accepts the story on the premise thatthe actor has turned into someone else. However, in White Rabbit,
Red Rabbit, the writer himself every so often intervenes during thecourse of the play, constantly reminding us of the theatrical convention that “the actor is the one who speaks the writer’s words,” which
we would like to forget during the play if possible. What exactly is
the purpose though? For instance, it says in the script, “I’m in Siraz”
and “The day that I’m writing this part of the play is April 25th,
2010.” When the writer intervenes into the play, we become awarethat there is a temporal and spatial gap as well as a disconnection thatis difficult to cross. By bringing out the convention needed for thefiction of theatre, the ‘space’ between fiction and reality is turned into
an issue. Yes, it is the actor that exists as a mediator in this ‘space’.
The actor exists, so to speak, as a bridge over the ‘space’ between thepsychological ‘reality’ of the writer and the ‘reality’ of the auditorium.
The writer suddenly starts to speak about himself. When theaudiences hear phrases such as “I’m not free” or “There are lots ofyoung people like me,” they become curious. They associate it withincidents happening around the writer, the writer’s past and the timeand place that the writer exists. While the audiences imagine thesethings, they listen to the performance as well as the allegorical narration that is taking place before their eyes and start prying various
things from the not so concrete but allusive fragments of information.
The audience’s story-searching performance unfolds at the level of
their imagination as well. Without even noticing, our own imagina-

177

tion is being tested between the two ‘realities’.
The writer uses a writing style that is not straightforward by anymeans. In a society where writers could be questioned and punished
for what they have written, thechoice of ‘writing style’ is important. The ‘writing style’ would
differ between writers who live indeveloped nations, where thefreedom of expression is guaranteed in the society, and those who
do not live in such society. With
the latter, using metaphor andadopting the form of fantasy isWhite Rabbit, Red Rabbit - Talk session :(from the left) Kono Takashi and Seki Tomoko

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

SPECIAL FEATURE

important. One must not watch this performance with inattention.
The writer is making an emergency call, so to speak, urging us to use
our imagination.
In order to cross the borders of ‘realities’ of the individuals, it isnecessary to understand that the ‘realities’ do not exist separately but
are integrated in a world made up of several layers. For that objective,
theatre is extremely effective. “You must cross the borders, starting
first from your own ‘reality’.” I was probably not the only one who
could hear such voice calling out from White Rabbit, Red Rabbit. It is
not about escaping from reality. It is about crossing the borders togain freedom.

178<Reading>
Djihad (Belgium)
Written by Ismaël Saidi
Translated by Tanokuchi Seigo
Directed by Setoyama Misaki (Minamoza)
Performed by Kusakabe Sō, Mori Ryūji, Moto-ori Saikyō Satoshi and Nakata
Kenshirō
Performed on December 17th and 18th

Ben, Reda and Ismaël, who are second-generation immigrants
living in Brussels and look like ordinary young men, head toward
Syria, a country struggling with civil war, for the sake of ‘jihad (holywar)’. However, they arrive at a place where drones suddenly attack.
Their comrades are shot by invisible snipers and die a meaninglessdeath, while Ismaël is the only one who survives and returns to
Belgium, where he is put in prison. Why did they go to Syria in thefirst place? They are young second-generation immigrants, who
cannot gain a sense of belonging in the society, face identity crises andfeel displaced wherever they go.
In Djihad, Ismaël Saidi (born in 1976), who himself is a second-generation immigrant from Morocco, has portrayed the heartrending feelings and the absurd realities of second-generation immigrants that are suffering from prejudice and discrimination because of
their innate religion and racial background, which was expressed in apoint-blank manner while adding some humor. The play attracted agreat deal of controversy and sympathy in French-speaking parts ofBelgium. It was premiered in December 2014 and since then, after
experiencing the simultaneous terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015
in Paris and the series of terrorist attacks on March 22, 2016, over179

70,000 people in total have seen the play.
Mr. Saidi said that he was shocked when he was watching television and saw footage of his classmate from high school holdinga K a l a sh n i ko v r i f le ,having become a fighterfor ‘Islamic state’. Furthermore, when he saw
Marine Le Pen, the leader
of France’s far-right party
Front National (FN),commenting about thesecond-generation immigrants who had gone to
Syria, saying, “I don’t care
Djihad © Ishizawa Chieko
Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

SPECIAL FEATURE

less as long as they don’t come back,” he decided to make this play.
Ms. Deborah de Lieme Abisror, who is the producer and tour
manager for Djihad, visited Japan in time with the reading performance and took part in the talk session. When she was working for
the European Parliament, she met Mr. Saidi and became the producer
for Djihad. She said that she approached politicians and ministries torealize the mounting of Djihad, which eventually led to a total of over
70,000 people seeing the production. More than 40,000 teenagers
have seen the play and taken part in the debate after the performance.
Ms. Abisror emphasized, “Just putting on the play will not change
anything. Education is more important.” In a newspaper interview,
Mr. Saidi answered, “I don’t think that this play alone can stop people
becoming extremists but I hope it will generate discussions to think180

about why young people become
Djihad © Ishizawa Chieko

extremists.” The post-performance
discussion with young people is an
integral part of their activities.
Therefore, in the last scene, the protagonist is urged to make a choiceout of two options, but he does notgive an answer in the play so as toleave room for discussion.
To my question, Ms. Abisror
answered that the performance of
Djihad had become a social phenomena and there had been many
offers to present the play, but she

would decline the offer dependingon the hosting organization and theintention of putting on the play.
For our project, Mr. Saidi wanted totalk to either the producer or director from Japan beforehand to sharethe intention of the play, so we
asked the director, Ms. Setoyama
Misaki, to go to Belgium.
Just presenting the play Djihad
will not provide an answer. It istherefore important that the audience ‘discover’ the issues that have

Djihad © Ishizawa Chieko

181

been raised in the play and start
having a dialogue. By means of theatre, the issues of immigrants,
discrimination, prejudice and multi-faceted and multi-layered‘realities’ of various communities can be mutually shared to help
improve understanding. Unfortunately, Mr. Saidi had to cancel
his visit to Japan in time for the reading performance due to healthreasons but he took part in the post-performance talk using Skype.
Through the talk session, I personally felt that the style of this play islinked to Bertolt Brecht’s ‘learning play’ and Augusto Boal’s ‘forum
theatre’. The artistic values of works are of course important but
I think that this play gave a good example of an attempt to change
society through theatre.
I have thus far reflected on the two plays that were presented in2016 under the series and lastly, I would like to add how I have

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

SPECIAL FEATURE

answered the question that I, as the producer of this series, have beenasked over and over again. ‘Conflict’ does not just mean issues concerning particular regions. It indicates factors veiling the world andproducing crisis, and also the outcome. Theatre can exist as a way to
pursue the true nature of issues and as an effective means to cross theborders of different ‘realities’ that have turned into ‘walls’ blocking
our paths ahead. ‘Theatre Born in Conflict Zones’ is a theatre projectto stand against crises. I think it is going to become even more important in the future in order to share the issues that we face and topromote better understanding.

Hayashi, Hideki
182

When he was a student at Waseda University, he founded Theatre Company
Asia Theatre, where he was in charge of playwriting and directing. Later on, hefounded Theatre Company Terra Arts Factory, serving as the representative.
Other than putting on performances, the company has carried out various
types of exchange programmes through theatre and theatre workshops bothin Japan and abroad. He is the Director of ITI Japan Centre and the Producer ofthe series Theatre Born in Conflict Zones.
(Translation: Sumida Michiyo)

Djihad - Talk session : (centre) Ismaël Saidi on
Skype, (from the left) Setoyama Misaki, Sumida
Michiyo (interpreter), Deborah de Lieme Abisror,
Niino Morihiro (moderator)

cover photo: © Ishizawa Chieko

国際演劇年鑑ITI Japanese Centre’s
Theatre Yearbook
since 1972
ITI is an NGO under the umbrella of UNESCO
and has some ninety branch centres around the world.
ITI Japanese Centre, which was founded in 1951, has been publishing ‘Theatre
Yearbook’ since 1972. From 1997, the planning and editing of ‘Theatre Yearbook’ isbeing carried out in two parts, of which one is titled ‘Theatre in Japan’ for readers
overseas and the other is titled ‘Theatre Abroad’ for Japanese readers.

Theatre in Japan (in English)
Noh, Kyōgen, Kabuki, Bunraku, Musicals, Contemporary Theatre, Theatre forChildren and the Youth, Puppet Theatre, Japanese Classical Dance, Ballet,
Contemporary Dance, Butoh, Television Dramas and other special topics including
a report on ITI Japanese Centre’s reading project ‘Theatre Born in Conflict Zones’.
Additionally, if you have any comments or requests regarding ‘Theatre Yearbook’,
please contact our centre and give us your feedbacks.

mail@iti-j.org

Tel: +81-(0)-3478-2189

ITI is expanding its on-line contents!

http://iti-japan.or.jp

Seeking for

Follow us on

itijapan

Looking for@itijapan

Searching for

New Subscribers

New Topics

New Writers

If you wish to subscribe to‘Theatre Yearbook’, pleasecontact ITI Japanese Centre.
Back issues are also available,
although copies may have runout of stock depending on
the year of issuance.

Please let us know if youcome up with any topics
related to performing arts thatyou would like to be coveredin ‘Theatre in Japan’.

We are searching for writers inyour countries who can kindly
contribute to ‘Theatre Abroad’.
If you know anyone, such as
journalists and researchers
whom you can recommend,
please introduce them to us.

Companion Volume“Theatre Abroad 2017”(Japanese)
These articles do not appear in“Theatre in Japan 2017”.

184

World Theatre Day Message by Isabelle Huppert

Theatre in Asia and Africa
China
South
Korea
Iran

Revisions and Translations Dominate---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iizuka Yutori
Censorship and Anger in the Korean Theatre Scene----------------------------------------------- Nam Song-Ho
A Bird’s-eye View on a Thriving Stage--------------------------------------------------------------------- Marjan Moosavi

Theatre in the Americas and Oceania
CanadaThe Future of Canadian Theatre with
the Post-Lepage Generation at the Forefront-------------------------------------------------------------- Kanzaki Mai

U. S. A.
Longing for Experience: Immersive Theatre and Third Rail Projects---------------- Tonooka Naomi
Argentina Buenos Aires, the Latin-American Capital of Theatre-------------------------------- Jaime Ruiz-Gutierrez
Australia Examining the Present Through the Theatre of the Past, and Stories

That Can Only Be Told Today--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sawada Keiji

Theatre in Europe
U.K.
ScotlandIrelandGermany/
Austria
FranceSpain
Italy
PolandRomania/
Moldova
SwedenNorwayRussiaEscaping Melancholy: Race, Refugees, and National Identity ------------------- Motohashi Tetsuya
Mother Earth, Music, and Justice---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nakayama Kaori
Reconsidering Nationalism, Representations of Women-------------------------------- Sakauchi Futoshi
German Theatre Confronts the Refugee Crisis----------------------------------------------------------------Terao Itaru
Directions in the Performing Arts After Terrorism --------------------------------------------------- Fujii Shintaro
A Realization of the Value of Theatre Festivals ------------------------------------------------------------- Tajiri Yoichi
Political Satirists and Politicians Coexist in Italy-----------------------------------------Yamanouchi Haruhiko
2016: A Year of Political Turmoil---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iwata Miho
Changes in the Romanian and Moldovan Theatre Scenes----------------------------------- Shichiji Eisuke
2016: A Year of Excitement-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Komaki Yu
Norwegian Theatre in the International Context------------------------------------------ Tara Ishizuka Hassel
The Changing Form of the Theatre Space and
the Potential of Experimental Theatre------------------------------------------------------------------- Shinozaki Naoya

185

Developments in Japan and Overseas
Housing Refugees in a Theatre Lobby?!
The Endeavors of Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg —————————————————— Hara Sachiko
Another Half Step: Partnerships with Chinese Theatre —————————————————— Satoh Makoto

Overseas Tours Report
Niwa Gekidan Penino’s Avidya: No Lights Inn Tours Four Countries Around Europe ————Onozuka Chika
A Phantom Body Resurrected as Media:
Kawaguchi Takao’s About Kazuo Ohno Tours Seven Cities in North America ———————————Iina Naoto

Special Feature ”Theatre Born in Conflict Zones 8”
Director’s Note: On Directing Djihad——————————————————————————Setoyama Misaki
Critique: An Intelligent and Ingenious Stratagem:
On White Rabbit, Red Rabbit by Nassim Soleimanpour——————————————————— Kono Takashi

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

ITI Centres (as of 3rd March, 2017)

North America
U.S.A.

Latin America andCaribbean
186

Argentina
BrazilColombia
Cuba
Dominican Republic
MexicoPeru
Puerto Rico
Venezuela

AfricaAlgeria
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Cameroun
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo Dem. ReP
Congo ReP
Cote d'Ivoire
Egypt
Ghana
Mali
Mauritania
Morocco
Niger
Nigeria
SenegalSierra Leone
South Africa
Sudan
Togo
UgandaZimbabwe

Europe
Austria
Belgium (Flanders)Belgium (Wallonia)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
CyprusCzech ReP
Denmark
Estonia
Faroe Islands
FinlandGermany
GreeceHungary
Iceland
Ireland

Italy
KosovoLatviaLuxembourg
Macedonia F.Y.R.
MonacoNetherlands
Romania
RussiaSerbiaSlovakia
Slovenia
Spain
SwedenSwitzerland

Middle East
Fujairah
Georgia
Iraq
JordanKuwaitOman
Palestine
Saudi Arabia
Sharjah
Syria
TurkeyYemen

Asia / PacificArmenia
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh
China
Chinese Taipei
India
Indonesia
Iran
IsraelJapan
Korea
Mongolia
Nepal
Philippines
Sri Lanka
Vietnam

187

The list of ITI Centres is updated as needed on the ITI website below.
International Theater Institute ITI / Institut International du Théâtre ITI
Office at UNESCO UNESCO, 1 rue Miollis, 75732 Paris Cedex 15, France
Headquarter in Shanghai 1332 Xinzha Road, Jing’an, Shanghai 200040, China Tel: +86 (0)21 6236 7033
info@iti-worldwide.org / www.iti-worldwide.org

Theatre in Japan

Theatre Yearbook 2017

Japanese Centre of International Theatre Institute
President

Nagai Taeko

Vice-Presidents

Abiko Tadashi
Yoshiiwa Masaharu

Managing Director Sota Shuji
Directors

Ataka Risako
Ito Hiroshi
Ozasa Yoshio
Odagiri Yoko
Kasuya Haruo
Kano Toyomi
Saimyoji Ikuko
Sakate Yoji
Shindo Yoshikazu
Nagae Iwao
Nakayama Kaori
Hayashi Hideki
Hishinuma Yoshiaki
Matsuda KazuhikoMiwa Elica
Wazaki Nobuya

Auditors

Kobayashi Hirofumi

Advisers

Otani Nobuyoshi
Sakomoto Jun-ichi
Tanokura Minoru
Nomura Man
Hatano Yoshio
Fukuchi Shigeo
Hori Takeo
Matsuoka Isao
Mogi Shichizaemon
Yamaguchi Masanori(As of March 27, 2017)

東宝演劇

アジアと世界で同時代の舞台芸術に取り組むプロフェッショナルのための
国際プラットフォーム。
An international platform for professionals
who explore the possibility of contemporary
performing arts in Asia and the world.