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- Convenor:
-
Masaru Ito
(Meiji University)
Send message to Convenor
- Chair:
-
Ken Hagiwara
(Meiji University)
- Discussant:
-
Ken Hagiwara
(Meiji University)
- Format:
- Panel
- Section:
- Performing Arts
- Location:
- Lokaal 5.50
- Sessions:
- Friday 18 August, -
Time zone: Europe/Brussels
Short Abstract:
This panel will reconsider the significance of the Tsukiji Little Theater (founded in 1924). It will be examined from the perspective of "War/Time" as "a time of being aware of war" and demonstrated as a theater with impact in a wide temporal range, both domestically and internationally.
Long Abstract:
It is well known that the Tsukiji Little Theater, founded in 1924 by Kaoru Osanai, Yoshi Hijikata, and others, had a wide impact on the contemporary theatrical trends in Japan at that time. However, the majority of previous studies have framed the activities developed at the theater and their significance within the limited framework of "prewar theater.” Instead, by examining the theater from the perspective of "War/Time," or the "interwar period" and "postwar period" as "a period of seeming peace but in fact being strongly aware of war," the activities of the Tsukiji Little Theater and its impact may come into a new light.
In addition, most of the previous studies have focused on the limited frame of "shingeki" (new theater) performed "at the Tsukiji Little Theater," but the activities of the people of the theater were actually quite diverse. Activities outside of the Tsukiji Little Theater, the theater company's base, were also developing, and there were many interactions with theater people from Japan and abroad. Their activities that developed in the post-war period, which can be called the legacy of Tsukiji, are also noteworthy.
Against this background, this panel will reconsider the significance of the Tsukiji Little Theater in the history of theater. First, the background and practices of the theater company's performances at regional theaters, especially in Hiroshima will be examined. Second, the possibility of understanding Socialist Realism in postwar Shingeki will be explored, using the example of Yoshi Hijikata's experiences in Soviet Russia in the 1930s and his exchange with Soviet playwright K. Simonov immediately after the war. Third, the postwar activities of the people of the theater will be discussed, focusing on the process of preparing for the establishment of the New National Theatre Tokyo. We will attempt to reevaluate the Tsukiji Little Theater by showing the scale of its activities and influence, not as "a theater that interacted only with a small segment of the Japanese domestic audience before the war," but rather as a theater which had a wide spatial-temporal influence both nationally and internationally during the interwar and postwar periods.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 18 August, 2023, -Paper short abstract:
This paper will reconsider the context of performing arts through war by focusing on the relationship between Tsukiji Little Theater and Hiroshima, thus centering on the fact that they had given three regional performances in Hiroshima and that a member lost his life in the atomic bombing in 1945.
Paper long abstract:
This paper will focus on the performances outside of the Tsukiji Little Theater to reconsider the diverse activities of this theater as a theater company and its influence in the interwar and postwar periods. Many previous studies on Tsukiji Little Theater have been conducted. However, the actual situation of performances outside the theater, especially in regional areas, has not been sufficiently clarified. This paper aims to provide the external theater performances of the company considering the Hiroshima performance as a touring performance.
First of all, Tsukiji Little Theater provided over 100 performances outside the theater. The first time the company performed outside the theater was in 1925. They began to perform in regional areas after their performances in Nagoya and Takarazuka. After that, the company performed the following three times in Hiroshima. Haruko Sugimura, who would go on to become one of Japan’s greatest actresses, made her first appearance at the Tsukiji Little Theatre in 1927, and her inspiration came from seeing the Hiroshima performance. Not only Sugimura, but the influence of the Tsukiji Little Theater, a Tokyo-based theater company, on people living in rural areas was significant and extended to the interwar and postwar periods.
Hiroshima has had a strong connection with war since the Meiji era, as it was the birthplace of Kaoru Osanai, one of the founders of the Tsukiji Little Theater, and his father was an army doctor.
Hiroshima is well known as the city where the atomic bomb dropped in World War II in 1945. As symbolic damage in Japanese theater, Sadao Maruyama, who had been an actor at the Tsukiji Little Theater, had just toured Hiroshima in 1945 as part of a wartime theater unit and lost his life in the atomic bombing. This tragedy was described in a play by Hisashi Inoue after the war and is still often performed today.
In brief, this paper will attempt to reconsider the context of performing arts through war by focusing on the relationship between Tsukiji Little Theater and Hiroshima.
Paper short abstract:
Y. Hijikata worked to popularize the Stanislavsky system and to break away from the prewar "Meyerholdism." This presentation will explore the possibility of understanding Socialist realism in postwar Shingeki, using the example of Hijikata's experiences in the USSR and his exchange with K. Simonov.
Paper long abstract:
After the war, Hijikata Yoshi worked to popularize the Stanislavsky system and attempted to create a socialist realist theater, breaking away from the prewar "Meyerholdism." Koreya Senda said, "In the process of moving from theatrical avant-gardism to Socialist realism, it seems that he had a lot of difficulty in trying to scrub away the residue of idealism, mechanism, and formalism. This is probably why he studied the Stanislavsky system so intensely after the war.” Already in the prewar 1930s Japanese Shingeki circles, the discourse on Meyerhold was negative, which was in line with the cultural policy of the Soviet government of the time. In fact, Hijikata himself wrote after the war, in writing about Meyerhold's death, that the "biological or mechanical emancipation of theater and acting techniques was no longer effective, and superficial posters were no longer possible," and that the purpose of his visit to the USSR in 1933 was "to break away from all the influences of the past that had produced defects in me as a director, that is, the influence of Meyerhold, and to see a new and true creative method."
It should be noted, however, that Hijikata's statement was written in 1945, after the war, as a memoir. It will be necessary to consider the influence of Hijikata's four years of experience in the Soviet Union, from 1933 to 1937, on his postwar attitude. Hijikata himself left no record of his time in the Soviet Union. In this regard, we will review the memoirs of Natalya Semper-Sokolova, a friend and private translator of Hijikata. Then, we will examine how Hijikata's postwar exchanges with K. Simonov, a leading writer of Socialist realism, influenced him.
Paper short abstract:
This paper explores the connection between Tsukiji Little Theater and New National Theatre, Tokyo, Japan’s first national theater for modern plays. The movement to establish a national theater in Japan began after WWII. Some artists leading the movement were members of Tsukiji Little Theater.
Paper long abstract:
This paper explores the connection between Tsukiji Little Theater, the first private theater for modern plays in Japan, and New National Theatre, Tokyo. New National Theatre, Tokyo, opened in 1997, and is Japan’s first national theater for modern plays. The movement to establish a national theater in Japan began immediately after the end of World War II. Many artists negotiated with the government to establish a national theater, and some of them were affiliated with the Tsukiji Little Theater in some way. This paper will explore how members of Tsukiji Little Theater contributed to the establishment of New National Theatre, Tokyo, with some examples.
The first example is Yoshi Hijikata, who was a theater director and one of the founders of Tsukiji Little Theater. He advocated the establishment of a national theater two years after the end of World War II. However, the proposal did not materialize due to the political climate. The second is Koreya Senda, who was an actor, theater director, and one of the youngest members of the Tsukiji Little Theater. He was an important negotiator with the government in planning a national theater for modern plays. When National Theatre of Japan, Japan’s first national theater for traditional plays, opened in 1966, some modern performing artists, including Senda, protested against the government. Following that protest, the government expressed continuing plans to establish a national theater for modern plays. The third is Keita Asari, who was the theater director and producer of Shiki Theatre Company, a famous musical theater company in Japan. He was also the son of Tsuruo Asari, a founding member of Tsukiji Little Theater. Keita Asari had connections with conservative politicians and used these contacts to argue the necessity of a national theater for modern plays. Along with Senda, Asari coordinated between the government and artists during the preparation for the opening of New National Theatre, Tokyo.
Through these examples, this paper will position New National Theatre, Tokyo, as a legacy of Tsukiji Little Theater.