Support Projects for Enhancing Function
Collaboration with Overseas Universities
and Fostering Next Generation
Fiscal 2018
This project facilitates interaction among personnel and cultivation of the next generation of researchers in collaboration with overseas research institutions. In2018, in partnership with research institutions in an unprecedented number of countries (the United States, Europe, and East Asia), we carried out joint projects and publicized the results in several events noted below.
International symposium: “Modern Adaptation and Performance of Shakespeare”
As part of a collaborative program that has been ongoing since 2016 with the University of Birmingham’s Shakespeare Institute, a global hub for Shakespeare research, the Theatre Museum held an international symposium titled “Modern Adaptation and Performance of Shakespeare” (Nov. 26, 2018, Ono Auditorium).
In the first portion of the symposium, four speakers from the United Kingdom and Japan discussed modern adaptations of Shakespeare. First, well-known Japanese kyogen actor Mansai Nomura explained how various elements of noh and kyogen, such as usage of masks, were put to use in three adaptations of Shakespeare in which he was involved. Next, Tiffany Stern (professor at the University of Birmingham’s Shakespeare Institute)discussed actual performances in Shakespeare-era England in which different plays were performed on consecutive days as well as the unique characteristics of Shakespeare’s texts. Actor/performer Angus Jackson (Royal Shakespeare Company) discussed his experiences directing a series of Shakespeare’s works set in ancient Rome as an example of modern performance in the United Kingdom, and explained how changes in governance, the state, and society across disparate time settings were expressed. Finally, actress/performer Kelly Hunter (artistic director of the Flute Theatre) discussed contemporary performance practice, including performance practice in social education, and explained how Shakespeare’s texts were used recently in a workshop for children with disabilities, and how this experience served as a gateway to a new kind of performance.
In the second portion, Nomura and Hunter read Act 1,Scene 7 of Macbeth in Japanese (Nomura) and English(Hunter), drawing applause from attendees. Finally, a discussion was held, with Michael Dobson (director of the University of Birmingham’s Shakespeare Institute) serving as moderator, to discuss similarities between English and Japanese performances of Shakespeare’s works and theater cultures of both countries, demonstrating again a renewed significance of pursuing international joint research.
Reading by Mansai Nomura and Kelly Hunter
International symposium:“Between Ideology and Show Business:Colonial/Imperial Movie Theaters and Film Culture”
As part of our efforts to internationally publicize the results of research on the prior year’s joint research themes, we held an international symposium titled “Between Ideology and Show Business: Colonial/Imperial Movie Theaters and Film Culture” (Nov. 3, 2018) in South Korea. It was hosted by (and at) the Korean Film Archive with the joint sponsorship of the Kobe Gakuin University Faculty of Humanities and Sciences Research Promotion Grant. This groundbreaking event took a historical perspective on investigating the international development of the film industry in East Asia, a theme that has become increasingly popular in research. To publicize results on joint research themes, Manabu Ueda (associate professor at Kobe Gakuin University) gave a lecture on Manchurian movie theaters and screening tours, and researcher Kazuto Kondo(postdoc special researcher at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) examined film industry practices surrounding wartime Japanese movie theaters. Chie Niita(part-time instructor at Waseda University) discussed the various practices undertaken to modernize Japanese movie theaters after the Great Kanto Earthquake without limiting the discussion to wartime policies, and Fumiaki Itakura(professor at Kobe University) examined the censorship of Korean films by the Japanese Ministry of Home Affairs. Collaborative researcher Jeong Jong-hwa (Korean Film Archive) gave a research presentation focused on movie theaters in Seoul from the mid-1930s to the early-1940s, and researcher Roland Domenig (associate professor at Meiji Gakuin University) served as a moderator for a discussion concerning wartime film industry policies. In addition to the above, three presenters and five panelists took part in a lively discussion and exchange of views among Japanese and Korean researchers. The forms taken by Japanese and Korean film industries amid the trend toward Japanese imperialism were considered from a wide variety of angles.
The international symposium in South Korea
The“90th Anniversary of Kabuki in Vladivostok”event to commemorate the first kabuki performance in Russia
At the end of July 2018, a collaborative event entitled“90th Anniversary of Kabuki in Vladivostok” was held to commemorate the anniversary of the first kabuki performance in Russia. There was a demonstration/workshop by Sadanji Ichikawa and Tsutanosuke Ichikawa,a performance of Oganomachi children’s kabuki, and a speech by Takayuki Hioki (associate professor at Shirayuri University), who discussed a document held by the Theatre Museum (Kabuki Sovieto koen harikomicho) that put the museum’s important materials on the Russo-Japanese cultural exchange to use in further cultural collaborations. In this respect, the center serves as a hub for broad overseas dissemination of Japanese theater culture, including kabuki.
Lecture by Hioki in Vladivostok
International symposium“Talking Silents New Approaches to Early Japanese Cinema and the Art of the Benshi”Film screening and Film Screening“The Art of the Benshi”at the University of California at Los Angeles
As a collaborative project between this center and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), a symposium titled “Talking Silents: New Approaches to Early Japanese Cinema and the Art of the Benshi” and screening focusing on benshi (live narrators for silent films)titled “The Art of the Benshi” will be held from March 1–3,2019, on the UCLA campus. Being based on the UCLA’s proposal, the event is to be realized by the great effort of the joint research team at this center who has accumulated the knowledge and experiences. At the symposium, David Desser (professor emeritus at the University of Illinois), the museum’s vice-director Ryuichi Kodama, Keiko Sasagawa(professor at Kansai University), Kotaro Shibata (research associate at this center), Fumito Shirai of the joint research team (postdoc special researcher at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science), Kazuto Kondo, and others will speak. At this gathering of front-line researchers from Japan and the United States, we expect that benshi and other aspects of Japanese film culture will provide a jumping-off point for wide-ranging discussions.
Young researcher overseas dispatch project
As in past years, we have encouraged young researchers throughout Japan to participate in overseas research presentations. This year, we assisted Mariko Kasahara(University of Tokyo Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology) with a portion of her travel expenses.
[Report: Mariko Kasahara] The presenter took part in the international research conference “Evil Women: Women and Evil” held in Vienna on Dec. 1 and 2, 2018. She delivered the research presentation “Character Analysis of Manon Lescaut in 20th Century Film: From the Viewpoint of Manon Lescaut’s Lover, Des Grieux.”Around 40 participants were required to attend all tables, at which vigorous discussions took place. The presenter also collected and investigated materials concerning opera performances and representations of Manon Lescaut at the Vienna State Opera.