Immigrant Ghost Stories | Yudai Kamisato / Okazaki Art Theatre

Yudai Kamisato & Okazaki Art Theatre
Immigrant Ghost Stories
Tokyo Performances
Migrating ghosts?!
Ghost stories about what we can’t see, what we can no longer see, and what we wanted to see The “invisible neighbors” haunting your present

Immigrant Ghost Stories, the latest play by Yudai Kamisato (Okazaki Art Theatre), the playwright and director known for his work about migration and crossing borders, makes its highly anticipated debut in Tokyo and Kyoto following an acclaimed premiere in October at the newly opened NAHA CULTURAL ARTS THEATER NAHArt in Naha, Okinawa.

Featuring tales set in Laos, Thailand, Brazil, Bolivia, and Okinawa, stories and memories of people traveling overseas, and the histories of those places all intermingle and overlap. The stories that the characters tell evoke the uncertainties about the reality in which we live, and conjure up sensations and experiences that transcend time and space.

People. The land. Animals. Insects. Plants. Listen to the voices of all living things and embark on a journey of encounters with the ghosts—our invisible neighbors—that come into view beyond your imagination.

This very timely play inevitably brings to mind both the unprecedented recent past, during which nations around the world closed their borders and travel was restricted, and the present day, in which the ravages of war seem more real than ever.

Story

Three people gather for a reunion. One talks about going to Thailand in search of the origins of shochu (a kind of Japanese liquor) and the captivating woman he met there. Another describes people who immigrated to a faraway place. The other talks about Okinawan ghosts. Drink. Pensions. Festivals. War. The future. Death. Barbecues. Previous lives. The stories the three tell range far and wide, but they seem to talk past each other, not with one another. Far from it, they don’t even seem to see the same things. Is that twinkling light above them the starry sky? Or the flashes of bombs? And what appears from the stories that they tell?

Invisible neighbors—ghosts and spirits—lurk in our daily lives. You could say they are our neighbors. Discussion about whether they exist or not can be dispensed with. They exist only for those who can see them. You could also say, those who do not want to see them cannot. Incidentally, I have never seen one, but I want to. It is okay if something is invisible to us. But what would happen if such “invisible neighbors” were to transcend national and regional boundaries? This is the idea that inspired the conception of this work. It is said that ghost sightings increase after wars and earthquakes. Thinking of the dead leads to the emergence of ghosts. If this is the case, then ghosts seem to be an indispensable part of our lives. As time passes by and such reasons for the birth of ghosts are forgotten, I wonder if they will become spirits of unknown origin.

Yudai Kamisato

Immigrant Ghost Stories at NAHA CULTURAL ARTS THEATER NAHArt
Photo: Wataru Oshiro

Profile

Playwright and Direction

Yudai Kamisato

Born in 1982. Playwright and stage director. Taking the theme of people and cultures that traverse borders, the works he creates also incorporate his own experiences. In 2006, he won the Toga Director Competition Best Director Award for Desire Caught by the Tail (by Pablo Picasso). In 2018, he won the 62nd Kishida Kunio Drama Award for The Story of Going Down the Long Slope of Valparaiso. He has been invited to many performing arts festivals in Japan and overseas. He stayed in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 2016/10 to 2017/8 as an overseas trainee for emerging artists of the Agency for Cultural Affairs 2016. His books include a collection of plays The Story of Descending the Long Slope of Valparaiso (2018, Hakusuisha) and People Who Go Beyond—Ask Young People of Japanese Descent in South America (2021, Aki Shobo). He became a Saison Fellow of the Saison Foundation in 2022.

Actors

Miki Uejo

Born in Okinawa prefecture. She has performed as a freelancer in many stage performances and films, mainly in Okinawa prefecture. She participated in the Okazaki Art Theatre production Ryukyu Kaidan (original story by Takeshi Kohara, 2021). Since 2020, she has held numerous live ukulele performances incorporating spoken word. Her special skill is flag waving.

Wataru Ohmura

大村わたるの顔写真

Born January 1, 1988 in Nara prefecture. He is a member of Kaki-kuu-kyaku and Seinendan. He is an actor with a unique presence. He has participated in +51 Aviación, San Borja (2015-2017) and other productions by Okazaki Art Theatre. In addition to stage performances, he has appeared in various TV dramas and commercials.

Shu Matsui

松井周の顔写真 Photo: Toru Hiraiwa

Born in Tokyo in 1972. After joining the theatre company Seinendan in 1996 as an actor, he also began activities as a writer and director. In 2007, he left Seinendan to launch the theatre company SAMPLE. In 2011, he won the 55th Kishida Kunio Drama Award for The Treasured Son.

Beatriz Sano

ビアトリス・サノの顔写真

Choreographer, dancer and teacher based in São Paulo, Brazil. She is a master’ s student in the Department of Performing Arts at the State University of Campinas. She is a member of the dance company Key Zetta & Cia and has worked with artists such as Eduardo Fukushima, Júlia Rocha, and Isabel Ramos Monteiro. She works with the notion that voice and body movement are inseparable in her creative process.

Information

Kyoto

2023.1.28-1.29

Schedule

2023

Jan.28 Saturday: 14:00／19:00

Jan.29 Sunday: 14:00

* Doors open 30 minutes prior to the performance time.
★Nursery Service on Saturday 28 January. Please visit ROHM Theatre Kyoto website for required pre-booking.

Venue

Rohm Theater Kyoto North Hall

13 Okazakisaishoji-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City 606-8342
TEL : +81(0)75-771-6051

By Train:
10 minutes walk from Higashiyama Station of Kyoto city subway Tozai Line.

By Bus:
1 minutes walk from Okazaki koen / ROHM Theatre Kyoto / Miyako messe mae.
5 minutes walk from Okazaki koen / Bijutsukan / Heian-jingumae.
5 minutes walk from Higashiyama Nijo / Okazakikoenguchi.

Inquiry

Rohm Theater Kyoto Ticket Counter

TEL : +81(0)75-771-6051

Flyer

Tickets

Seating: Unreserved Tax include

Advanced ticket for Adult: ¥3,500
Advanced ticket for 25 and under: ¥2,000
Advanced ticket for 18 and under: ¥1,000

+ ¥500 for at the Door tickets.

*No admission permitted for pre-school children.
*Proof of age is required for the holders of 25 and 18 and Under tickets.

Booking & Inquiry: ROHM Theatre Kyoto Online Tickets (available 24 hours)

*Pre-registration required (no registration fee)
WEB: https://www.s2.e-get.jp/kyoto/pt/

ROHM Theatre Kyoto Box Office

TEL: ＋81(0)75-746-3201 (everyday 10:00-19:00)

Kyoto Concert Hall Box Office

TEL: ＋81(0)75-711-3231
(10:00～17:00 closed on the 1st and the 3rd Mondays, and the following Tuesday in case 1st or 3rd Monday is a national holiday)

Presented by ROHM Theatre Kyoto (Kyoto City Music Art Cultural Promoting Foundation), Kyoto City, The Association of Public Theaters and Halls in Japan

Supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan

Tokyo

2022.12.15-12.19

Schedule

2022

Dec.15 Thursday: 19:30

Dec.16 Friday: 19:30

Dec.17 Saturday: 14:00／18:00

Dec.18 Sunday: 14:00★

Dec.19 Monday: 14:00

* Doors open 30 minutes prior to the performance time.
★Post-performance Talk
*Performed in Japanese and Portuguese with English surtitles.
*Presentado en japonés y portugués con subtítulos en inglés y español.

Venue

Tokyo Metropolitan theater / Theater EAST

B1F 1-8-1 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
TEL: +81-03-5391-2111

2-minute walk from West Exit of Ikebukuro Station on JR lines, Tokyo Metro lines, Tobu Tojo Line, and Seibu Ikebukuro Line
*Directly accessible from Exit 2b of Ikebukuro Station underground passage