JAPANESE THEATRE, KNOW YOURSELF
BEIJING OPERA IS EMBLEMATIC OF CHINESE theatre, and the shadow puppets of Wayang Kulit are iconic symbols of Indonesian culture. So too kabuki, noh, bunraku, and kyogen are familiar global ambassadors of the Japanese stage.
Since traditional performing arts are its best-sellers internationally, it’s no surprise that on the culture information site All About Japan you’ll find kabuki, kagura (Shinto music and dance), bunraku, noh, and rakugo (comic storytelling) among suggestions to tourists for entertaining theatre outings, alongside the Takarazuka Revue, Gekidan Shiki (Japanese musicals staged in a Western style), and works by English-language (mainly expatriate) community theatre groups.
Consequently most visitors have little incentive to include contemporary theatre in their itinerary. But in light of such popular Japanese exports as manga, anime, computer games, cosplay, sushi, and lately KonMari, surely it’s high time the country’s vibrant if largely inward-looking contemporary theatre followed suit—perhaps becoming more international, even universal, along the way.
Fortunately there are encouraging stirrings. In particular the 2020 Tokyo Olympics/Paralympics is prompting various initiatives, inspired in part by the runaway success of Britain’s nationwide “cultural Olympics” when London hosted in 2012. In the performing arts field, for example, the large-scale annual Tokyo Festival was launched in fall 2016 as an international theatre event showcasing leading-edge theatres from around the world to the wider
