On Vernacular Theatre

Abstract

Currently, there are, on average, 40-50 performances every night in Tokyo. These figures only represent the genre of contemporary theatre. If other genres - traditional theatre (such as nô and kabuki), commercial theatre, musical, and children’s theatre - are added to the figure, there are 21,000 performances per year in Tokyo (Engeki Nenkan 2004).

As far as these figures go, it is possible to say that Tokyo is one of the most prominent ‘theatre cities’ in the world. The vivacity of contemporary theatre is particularly noticeable compared to other types of theatre. Out of these numerous theatre activities, I would like to talk, today, about my own experience of communication in terms of theatre and theatre collaboration between Japan and neighbouring Asian countries.