LAND OF THE RISING STAGE
JAPAN COMPRISES A PEOPLE, PLACE, AND culture that both glance backward to celebrate and preserve a rich past, while simultaneously seeking ways to innovate and blaze forward into the future—much like a god or demon in kabuki theatre who can see in all directions while standing still.
This dynamic can be seen in a striking campaign by Tokyo Tokyo Old meets New, a government initiative branding Tokyo as a city “where unique traditions and advanced culture coexist and come together.” The ads depict a woodblock print of a geisha in contrast with an image of the humanoid holographic singer, Hatsune Miku, and a Shochiku kabuki actor alongside Robi, the interactive robotic companion.
This paradox of two distinctly different worlds comfortably coexisting is so deeply imbued in the culture that it becomes obvious to anyone who’s ever visited Japan—perhaps even more than to the Japanese themselves, as this juxtaposition is such a part of daily life it may go unnoticed. History and tradition are glorified and honored, while the desire to rack up new achievements is so strong that many from the Land of the Rising Sun—so called because the dawn comes so early, Japan is literally in the future compared to most of the world—are so overworked they fall asleep in transit or at work.
Though the nation boasts the most centenarians and oldest human beings overall, it also has a high suicide rate and a rapidly declining population due to a low birth rate. Despite these challenges, the Japanese live by the code of gaman—a term meaning “enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity,” commonly simplified as “perseverance.”
The nation’s paradoxical old/new dynamic is especially true in Japanese theatre, where centuries-old practices are still performed by both traditional and contemporary companies, while cuttingedge technology and pop culture have become regular players as well—and the two often intersect.
Understanding Japanese theatre today is a way to understand Japanese culture itself. A multitude of layers are revealed, like a lotus unfurling its petals one by one, or a Pandora’s Box exploding with so many contradictions and dimensions that it can feel overwhelming at times. To get as complete a reading as possible of the pulse of Japan’s theatre scene, I visited
