After a slightly horrific flight from China it is a relief to arrive in Japan, an established well oiled organization with a 80’s vibe. The first meeting of the trip is a planning meeting for the Ikebukuro project, a site visit and a go through of the practicalities. Of course as often happens in Japan it is rather different than I had imagined, for one there are 12 people at the meeting, many of whom don't say anything, an impressive turnout for a Sunday morning. The meeting is long, going through various phases and this is only the preparation meeting for another meeting later in the week.
We visit a disused school that is to be the rehearsal space, it’s vast, the air conditioned rooms are recommended, reminding me of the extreme heat we are likely to experience in July. There is an unfeasibly large collection of unicycles which no one comments on as well as an 8ft straw owl in a case. The school had its own radio station and well equipped music rooms. The decline in population means that there are 6 schools in the area all closed and a need to find alternative use for the spaces. The school is currently used for adult ed and community use at the moment.
A new venue/square has been added to the programme replacing the previous dusty square, the new square is very designed, it has a beautiful cascading fountain at one end, and is planted with elegant trees, the two works planned for the square are a ‘opera’ piece where 2 brothers sing to one another, one a failure and one a success, and a work that dramatises in a formal manner the final scene from ‘First Blood’ the original Rambo film. The square is also the site of the hangings of the Japanese war criminals (sacrifices in Japan terms) and has a commemorative site that is clearly still well tended. This seems a little overcharged as a context but the only question asked is how best to remove the blood from the 1st Blood performance, and this is discussed in some detail. The issue of meaning and connections, though raised by me, does not seem to be of importance, the somewhat horrific nature of the work equally insignificant - Japanese theatre I am told is filled with gore (but no sex). During our visit to the square there is a demonstration against the purchase of organs from excecuted Chinese criminals, there are some very explicit images of roughly sewn together and presumably relativly empty people.
There is an active extreme right wing in Japan, they drive around at weekends in Kamikazee head bands standing on the roofs of crazy quasi army vehicles or white vans, shouting extreme right wing stuff through crazy megaphones, its performance art and no doubt especially as they are entirely ignored by the vast swathes of rabid shoppers. Could such a group be enticed to contribute to the performance in the square?
Comments