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File.34 "Wharf Workshop 2020"
Miyuki Inoue (Magcal Editorial Department)

Wakabacho Wharf is an arts center in Wakabacho, Yokohama, run by playwright and director Makoto Sato. The center aims to create a "harbor" where performers from all over Japan and neighboring Asian cities, such as China, Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Cambodia, can meet, talk, learn, create, and disseminate their work both domestically and internationally. The "Hatoba Workshop" is one such initiative, and every summer young people from each country gather to create works while living together.

*Click here for the report on the Wharf Workshop 2018!
*Click here for the report on the Wharf Workshop 2019!

In 2020, the <Hatoba> project that Mr. Sato envisioned was scheduled to get underway in earnest. However, the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed the world. What happened to the workshop at the harbor? And what is the current state of <Hatoba>, where young people from Asia gathered?
I visited Wakabacho Wharf in mid-March 2021 and spoke with Makoto Sato.

"Personally, I think we need to think of 'coronavirus' and 'disasters' separately. Coronavirus is just one of the 'triggers.' It became a 'disaster' because there was no way to deal with it, but the various problems that have surfaced this time could have been caused by other triggers as well.
In the midst of all this, the most important thing I thought was to "never stop." Although it would be difficult to operate as a rental theater or lodging facility, I didn't want to close the facility, so I opened up the first floor and developed the "Vacant Lot Project." I feel like I have come to see the direction of my future activities as I connected with the local people there and went through a process of trial and error together. And that is, "I want to continue doing this regardless of the scale."

* Click here for the vacant land project report!

The Challenge of "Wharf Workshop 2020"

"I believe that the biggest element of performing arts is movement, that is, leaving one's home, traveling and gathering together. In a situation where this is restricted, how much can be done? For example, it's impossible to hold a training camp with 15 people, but what can four or five people do? So this time, we invited four people, mainly past participants of the Hatoba workshop, to stay and create their own work, and in the evening we connected online with China and Singapore to exchange information with past workshop participants."

On Sunday, March 14th, the results were announced as the "Wharf Workshop 2020 Special Project."
Up until now, the creations have been based on Sato's texts, but this time, the only concept given was "1 table 2 chairs/isolation." On the stage, there was one table and two chairs, and four artists. They performed three pieces, each of which lasted 20 minutes, changing the combination.

"It feels like the scale has become much smaller, but I think this is an opportunity for theater. The question now is, 'How are we going to coexist with nature from now on?' In terms of coexistence with nature, theater is a fundamental means of expression and doesn't necessarily require a theater. It can be done with a small number of people, and can be carried out without technology like lighting and sound. We need to rethink our economic thinking, but in this regard, the emergence of crowdfunding and the like has certainly changed things. For example, we could create a work that can be taken anywhere by two or three people, and create a system to tour the country through a network of small theaters. If this style of activity could be established, artists and audiences would no longer need to have a base in the city center."

Small International Festival Concept

"Another idea I have is to create a small festival in the area.
Once travel is permitted again, we would like to plan an international festival. It would not be as large-scale as in the past, but more like an expanded version of the wharf workshop, with small, face-to-face encounters. This idea was born out of the exchanges we have had with nearby art facilities since last year, and we will collaborate with nearby facilities, using the eaves and vacant lots of supporting homes to hold workshops and present the results of our creations. We would like to create a new style that makes people think, 'So this is why we created this place called Wakabacho Wharf.'"