Akihiko Ogita, "Contemporary Theatre in Japan" Summary and Impressions - Recommended reference book to link and learn about postwar Japan and the theatrical stream.
Introduced here is a book titled "Modern Theatre in Japan" by Akihiko Ogita, published by Iwanami Shoten in 1995.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
The small-theater movement that emerged in the 1960s, when various objections erupted, transformed contemporary Japanese theater. This book depicts the first generation, including Juro Karo and Tadashi Suzuki, who were rich in experimental spirit and pursued Japanese originality, and the subsequent generation, including Kohei Tsuka and Hideki Noda, to bring into relief the drama woven by a new sensibility in the reality and feel of the times. A characteristic cross-section of postwar Japanese culture that emerges vividly.
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I picked up this book by Yasushi Inoue, which I have previously introduced in this blog.Romance."was the catalyst.
Akihiko Ogita, the author of this work, was in charge of the commentary at the end of this book. Hisashi Inoue's commentary is a masterful one that makes it easy to understand what kind of person he was and the features and charm of this work. I want to be able to write such a wonderful commentary! I wish I could write such a wonderful commentary!
I decided that I would like to read Mr. Ogita's book, so I did some research and found a work that exactly matched what I wanted to know. That is what this book, "Contemporary Theatre in Japan," is all about.
I have recently been learning about Yukio Ninagawa from the Shakespearean theater stream. In particular.A thousand knives, a thousand eyes.In the following section, we learned more about Ninagawa's youth and his thoughts on criticism.
The book describes Ninagawa's participation in the demonstrators as a young man and the close relationship between the theatrical world and the social struggles of the time. It also describes the structure of the theatrical world of the time, and I became interested in theater as seen from the perspective of its connection to the times.
This book, "Contemporary Theatre in Japan," was the best guide for me.
It provides an overview of the history of the small theater movement from its beginnings in the 1960s to the theater of the 1990s, which went through the bubble economy.
I was especially interested in the theatrical world during the era of the Security Treaty and student conflicts, when ideologies were raging, so it was very gratifying to learn more about these issues.
Here are some of the most memorable parts of it.
The first generation of playwrights and directors, who started the small theater movement in the 1960s, included many unique and charismatic talents. The playwrights included Juro Karo, Minoru Betsuyasu, Makoto Sato, Ren Saito, Kunio Shimizu, Shuji Terayama, Shogo Ota, and Tadao Kanasugi, and the directors included Tadashi Suzuki, Yukio Ninagawa, and Yutaka Azuma (......). All of them are creators who have opened up new theatrical horizons, and many of them are also outstanding group leaders and combative theorists who are not afraid of controversy.
In order to clearly distinguish themselves from established theaters such as Shingeki, and to fight the persistent criticism of the underground, they had to arm themselves with theory and verbalize their stage productions. They had to make their way in the midst of poverty, obscurity, and isolation, which was quite different from the situation after the 1980's, when newspapers, information magazines, television, and other media actively encouraged new talent in the small theater. Therefore, many of them actively engaged in critical activities that also served as PR for their theater companies. (omitted).
In other words, the first generation was the founding generation that had to do everything on its own, from stage production to theoretical activities and publishing, and in fact did so. In this way, they developed a generation of tough theater people who were strong in the face of adversity, and who were able to do everything with their hands and their mouths. Terayama, Suzuki, Ota, Ninagawa, and others actively entered the international arena.
Iwanami Shoten, Akihiko Ogita, Modern Theatre in Japan, p. 22-23
For me, the 60s and 70s are so mysterious times. The Security Treaty, student conflicts, revolutions... When I watch images from those days, I wonder "Why do they argue so much? Why do they talk so much about theories? Why were they so passionate?
I was also particularly concerned about the theoretical armament, and felt that the images and texts at that time were full of unusually philosophical and conceptual language. However, the author's,
In order to distinguish themselves from established theaters such as Shingeki and to fight the persistent underground criticism, they had to theorize and verbalize their stage productions, armed with theory. They had to make their way in the midst of poverty, obscurity, and isolation, which was quite different from the situation after the 1980's, when newspapers, information magazines, television, and other media actively encouraged new talent in the small theater. So many of them actively engaged in critiquing activities that also served as PR for their theater companies."
I heard him say, "I see, I didn't realize there was that aspect," and I was struck in the knees.
And what I felt anyway while reading this book was the enthusiasm of the theater people. And it is not an ordinary enthusiasm, but a fearsome seriousness of "fighting with all one's might.
The 60's and 70's are so mysterious to me. I can't get to it now due to time constraints, but I would love to learn more about it someday.
This book was very interesting to learn about the relationship between the atmosphere of the times and the theater. It was also a book that I appreciated as I wanted to learn more about Yukio Ninagawa. I would highly recommend this work.
The above is "Akihiko Ogita, "Contemporary Theatre in Japan" - A recommended reference book to link and learn about postwar Japan and the theatrical trend.
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