In 2021, because of my wife's work, I started living in Ayabe in the northern part of Kyoto. You can always see the mountains in front of you from your work room. While I was worried about the mountains, I saw the scenery of the former rice terraces many times. A narrow farmland along the mountain stream, which was once cleared as a rice field, has been abandoned and the population of cedar and cypress is planted, starting talking about postwar local history ...
We spend one third of our time for working. It is a significant act for life, but there is not much opportunity to look back every day, and there are no doctors who are worried. The project is the record of 38 days we've talked, filmed, laughed and cried through listening a purpose of working in person at our imaginary intervention of Jobcentre Hongo...
Stone circle is an ancient archeological site with stones arranged in circular shape. Similar archeological sites have been discovered around the world, and it is considered that rituals on the sun worship and the dead people were being held. I try to get a mystery in history by actually producing a burial tomb that can be found as part of stone circle in some archeological sites and inviting living people to the experimental tomb...
Kiyoshi Ichimura (died in 1957), a extraordinary entrepreneur who had successfully got a carrier from a poor farmer in Saga to the founder of the major company. Ricoh is being forced to be transformed in the digital heyday. What would he talk to employees today if he was still alive? Thorough analysis of books and lectures recorded by Ichimura, and experienced The Founder's Speech for 15 minutes that was produced while discussing with employees ...
If you order Music and Sake (1000 yen) at a standing izakaya bar in Ameyoko high street, the customer will be guided to the hidden small room at the back of the shop. Therefore, they listen the story of an unknown regulars who feel the street like their hometown. They have some common reasons for those who came from various countries and regions, such as China, the Philippines, Saitama, Yokohama, and Vietnam ...
Shibuya station. With more than 3 million passengers per day, it ranks second in the world. It's lively, but the customers rushing to their destination are all expressionless and somewhat bleak. More than 2,000 people worked at Shibuya Station every day. Station staff, security guards, cleaners, drivers, store clerks, redevelopment managers. As you walk through the station listening to their stories through headphones, the scenery of the station changes little by little...
Ginrei - a coffee shop that was once flourishly opened in front of the train station, Saji - a honest managing director of a boys baseball club who has never seen throwing a ball, Murakawa - a winner of the national tournament of festive song for Sumo wrestling, Okada - a good walker who go up to the Mountain Hiyama of 191.6m altitude twice a day, and more actors of Busshozan town bring colours to everyday life and show us a paradise in Autumn rice field at twilight...
There is a rooftop on the building located in 3 minute walk from the Fuji Station, you can see the geographical landscape which is gently sloped from mountains to the ocean, where the city and paper factories had been developed. By walking down on the street talking to people, visiting places mentioned with in the narrative then story is gradually taking on shape. After exploring the city, although we firstly see just a beautiful landscape, then things viewed from the rooftop just like to be actors and actress to tell stories about disconnection of mountains and the ocean in our modern history...
During the production in the previous year we met people of Busshozan Town Planning Room and fortunately got a chance to work together for this year's production. Flyers for recruiting performers were distributed to everyone in town and eventually 11 local performers joined the production. Their storytelling about the town was gradually raising the curtain of our performance...
Edinburgh is a world known festival city - many festivals has been held all around year. The main street Royal Mile is the centre of sightseeing in the old town, but there are still residents living there. How do they live in the place congested with visitors? What do they feel about tourists? The audience listens to the voices of locals about taking to themselves while walking down on the street and another theatre hidden behind the World Heritage Site will be opening the door...
Brixton, a city in southern London. After World War II, it developed as a town where black immigrants from Latin America gathered, but in recent years, land prices have soared and new stores have expanded and the town has been changing under gentrification. Relience Arcade, located just in front of the metro station, is a local shopping street where barber and record shops remain. But one day, the sound of hotel construction begins to sound from the outside...
Natsuki, one of our members of theatrical company Pepin had a work trip to visit Busshozan, located in suburban area of Takamatsu City in Shikoku Japan. Then she came up her mind creating a performance in that fascinating town, discussed with other members and brought them to Busshozan to start looking for collaborators and funding. But it was still hard for outsiders to take action there so that we decided to create an experimental artwork by ourselves during our 72 hour visit and present at the local festival. Everything about Paradise Busshozan starts from here...