I've arrived to Japan

In this first post, I’d like to share why I am starting this blog.

This website is a part of my PhD project on contemporary Japanese theatre and specifically my three-month fieldwork in Japan. You can read more about me and the name for the blog here. I am hoping to post reviews of theatre performances, extended essays, embedded pieces from theatre rehearsals and share my daily experiences of Japanese theatre, culture and society. I’m also hoping to give you a little insight into how theatre and arts are produced in Japan.

It’s been more than four years since I last visited Japan, but at last I’m finally here. Due to covid pandemic, Japan is still pretty much closed off to most people and that includes individual researchers like me. However, thanks to the kindness of some of my Japanese colleagues, in particular Professor Nobuko Anan at Kansai University, I was able to obtain a special circumstances visa under Kansai University’s Scholars from Overseas programme. This means that I am probably one of the first theatre scholars from the UK that will be reporting on post-pandemic Japanese theatre. It’s also a very exciting moment in Japanese theatre as the major contemporary theatre and arts festivals are being held in person (fingers crossed) for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

What are then my plans? The first week is already very packed. I’m spending a few days in Tokyo and then the weekend in Nagoya.

Tomorrow, I am meeting with theatre director and writer Yudai Kamisato, a Japanese playwright born in Peru. My PhD is on his work, but we have never met although we have been in constant contact via email for more than a year now. I have been following Kamisato’s work even longer. It’s a strange feeling to be meeting Kamisato-san. I’m slightly worried  because  my spoken Japanese has got a little rusty  as  I haven’t had much chance to practice it in situ in the last four years. These days he’s rehearsing his new production that will be premiering in October. In this first meeting, I am just hoping that we get to know each other.

This week, I’m also attending rehearsals by another theatre company, Kamome Machine, whose work I have been following since last October. Then on Friday, I am attending a symposium Art in the Countryside - Art and Regional Revitalization through Case Studies from Japan organised by German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo. At the weekend, I am off to Nagoya for the Aichi Triennale 2022. I’ll be watching the Japanese premiere of Adachi Tomomi’s opera based on John Cage’s Europeras. Adachi Tomomi is a Japanese artist based in Berlin. Further plan is to check out a  contemporary arts exhibition which seems to be interesting.

I am planning to post things at least twice a week, but maybe more depending on the schedule. I think that most of my posts will be in English, but sometimes I might feel like writing in Japanese as well. I can’t wait to share it all with you and please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below each post.

Stay connected!