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Theater/Dance

Kanagawa Standing Drinking Culture Talk Vol.7 “Life and Adventure”

神奈川・立ち呑み文化放談 Vol.7 「人生と冒険」

Text: Akiko Inoue Photo: Masamasa Nishino Published on November 11, 2015

Chikara FUJIWARA | Chikara FUJIWARA

Editor, critic, director of BricolaQ. Born in Kochi City in 1977. At the age of 12, he moved to Tokyo and started living alone in Tokyo. After that, he moved around a lot, and after working for a publishing company, became a freelancer. Responsible for editing Musashino Art University's public relations magazine "mauleaf" and Setagaya Public Theater "Caromag". Co-edited with Riki Tsujimoto, ``Book Guide as Architecture'' (Meigetsudo Shoten). Co-authored with Kyoko Tokunaga, ``The Strongest Theory of Theater'' (Asuka Shinsha). Currently living in Yokohama. A member of Theater Center F. In addition, he has created ``Geki Quest'' in various places where you walk around cities and peninsulas with game books in hand. http://bricolaq.com/

Kenji YAMAUCHI

actor. While attending International Christian University, he joined the Seinendan Theater Company and was heavily involved in the creation of ``Modern Colloquial Theater'' that began in the 1990s. His masterpiece, ``Tokyo Note,'' has been performed in 24 cities in 15 countries so far. Participated in many international co-productions with France and South Korea. We are developing a variety of activities that do not limit theater to theaters. We also actively hold workshops. In 2010, as a cultural exchange envoy from the Agency for Cultural Affairs, he performed a one-person play entirely in French at elementary schools across Europe.

Before recording the main story, I took a walk around Noge town! Check out the video here.

“Night Noge Walk” (Cast: Chikara Fujiwara, Kenji Yamauchi, Cooperation: Hoppy Sennin)

Theme and description

Chikara Fujiwara (hereinafter referred to as Fujiwara): Mr. Yamauchi will take care of all orders for this store!

Kenji Yamauchi (hereinafter referred to as Yamauchi): Eh!

...Well then, I'd like to order a bottle of Kanamiya and split it because I like it.

So, with that said...

Mr. Yamauchi, who frequently visits this restaurant, ordered his usual menu items from the extensive menu.

Mr. Yamauchi, who frequently visits this restaurant, ordered his usual menu items from the extensive menu.

Fujiwara: What an amazing order (lol)

Yamauchi: Well, I ordered all the things I always order (lol)

Once we got to the table, let's have a toast!

Both of them started with black hoppy.

Both of them started with black hoppy.

Unfortunately, it was raining on the day of the interview. I avoided the usually crowded inside of the restaurant and rented an outside table for the recording...

Yamauchi: Outdoors.

Fujiwara: I wonder if it's an appropriate situation for today's theme, "Life and Adventure"... (lol)

The reason why I chose the theme of ``adventure'' is because Mr. Yamauchi does mountain climbing, but he also performs in plays overseas and works with young directors to create works. I believe that you have had many "adventures". Also, my impression of Mr. Yamauchi was that he was an ``adventurous person'', including small everyday adventures like opening the door of an unknown bar (lol).

Yamauchi: That's not true, it's normal (lol)

Fujiwara: Anyway, let's go on an adventure and see how much we can drink today... (lol) No, I don't think it's normal.

Meeting with Oriza Hirata - When I opened the door to the club room, Oriza Hirata was there.

Fujiwara: Mr. Yamauchi has been a member of the Youth League since Oriza Hirata started it, right? How did you meet Oriza-san?

Yamauchi: I've been climbing mountains since I was an elementary school student under the influence of my parents, and I felt like I was definitely going to join the mountaineering club when I entered university, but there was no mountaineering club. Then I joined the Wundervogel club, which was the only one there. The day after the entrance ceremony, when I opened the door to the club room, Oriza Hirata was there.

Fujiwara: In the Wundervogel club? ?

Yamauchi: Yes. I have just traveled around the world and read a book with the long title ``Sixteen-Year-Old Oriza.'' This was just after he published his book, which chronicles the adventures of his successful round-the-world bicycle trip.

Fujiwara: I can't imagine what it would be like to have Oriza Hirata as your senior in club activities...what was it actually like?

Yamauchi: Well, he's a strange person (lol)

The story of those days is detailed in Oriza's book ``Journey to Create Maps: Youth Group and My Resume'', but when I was a student, I lived in a place called Penguin Village in Mitaka, which is similar to what we would now call a share house. We often gathered together to have beer, and I remember one of my seniors telling me, ``This guy has traveled around the world.'' I said, ``What are you talking about?'' He said, ``Really, really, there's a book over there.'' When I looked at it, there was a book with a red spine on a black bookshelf. What was this? ! That's how it all started.

Fujiwara: Hey! ! So why did you decide to continue working with this person even after graduating from university?

Yamauchi: Of course, I had respect for Oriza, but rather than wanting to work with this person, I felt that when I graduate from university, I don't want what we've done over the past four years to be just a memory, and that I want to do what we did. Perhaps it was more of an awareness that I couldn't put the theater I was working in at the center of my life.

Chikara Fujiwara/Kenji Yamauchi

Fujiwara: Seinendan's theater has been called ``modern colloquial theater'' or ``quiet theater,'' but Mr. Yamauchi and his colleagues have been working together since before that style was established.

Yamauchi: At that time, Yume no Yuminsha and the Third Stage Theater Company were at their peak, but we only started doing contemporary colloquial theater a year or two after graduating from university. kana. The first thing I thought about was how I could do it separately from Hideki Noda and Naofumi Kokami. There are many things to say about this period, but at the time I was more excited than anxious.

Fujiwara: It's exciting to hear about the mindset of Seinendan in its early days... I think there is a history of youth groups.

Yamauchi: Oriza has been clear-headed since he was 19 years old (lol)

Fujiwara: Have you been that clear since then?

Yamauchi: It was absurdly clear (lol)

I used to get angry and think, ``The world is more complicated than that! Why do you say things in such a clear way?''

Fujiwara: Ahaha. But Mr. Yamauchi's fight against that clarity is a little at a disadvantage (lol)

Yamauchi: I think he's probably similar to Chikara. I'm a bit of a monk, so I don't understand the mission of having to win an argument (lol).

Fujiwara: No, I just didn't have a good upbringing.

Yamauchi: I'm sure he would say something like that (lol)

Fujiwara: I see... (lol)

Yamauchi: But it's true that there may not be many theater companies like Seinendan in Tokyo that have been going on since my student days.

Chikara Fujiwara/Kenji Yamauchi

Here, grilled liver appears.

It is served after being grilled using the burner provided in the store.

It is served after being grilled using the burner provided in the store.

Collaboration with young people - Has a "young man" finally appeared? !

Fujiwara: I think the first time I spoke with Mr. Yamauchi was in 2009 when he was performing ``Coma'' directed by Yudai Kamisato, and when I saw the play, I thought, ``What the heck is this person?'' That's what I thought. At that time, I had interactions with the younger generation of theater artists, but I had not yet begun my career as a critic, and I wondered what the theater artists of Mr. Yamauchi's generation were thinking and what kind of bodies they should display on stage. I had never seriously thought about whether to show it or not, so I was really nervous! That's what happened.

Yamauchi: Huh~ (lol)

Fujiwara: In the end, Mr. Yamauchi went on to work with many people from the younger generation, such as Takahiro Fujita from Mam and Gypsy and Yukio Shiba from Play House, but that was something that would never have been possible with a ``defensive attitude.'' That's what I think. When I watch Mr. Yamauchi create theater with young people, I get the sense that he is serious, but at the same time, I get the feeling that he is ``having fun'' in a very good sense.

Yamauchi: But, as you get older, your various specs decline...

For example, it would be a shame if I saw actress Izumi Aoyagi memorize her lines after humming them twice and her specs dropped, but how should I play with those people now? I keep thinking that it's okay.

Fujiwara: Mr. Yamauchi, why are you interested in young theater artists?

Yamauchi: I wonder why...
I think one of the reasons is that they are so fearless and appealing to their generation.

I personally have felt a lot of pressure from the older generation. If you don't get a job, you won't be recognized as a member of society. After all, our generation thought that having a child was synonymous with quitting acting. But I started having more and more children from my juniors, who were about 10 years younger than me, huh? What do you mean? So... (lol)

Fujiwara: At that time, I guess there was some pressure like, ``We'll all be together until we die!''

Yamauchi: That's right, this Japanese society is absolutely true.

However, people around the age of 30 today seem to have a lot more freedom from such authority. At that time, Itsuki Uchida wrote a blog called ``Sentences of Youth,'' in which, through a conversation with architect Yusuke Mitsushima, Uchida realized that ``For the first time in decades, young people were born in Japan.'' ” That's what you felt, and I feel the same way about today's theater artists who are around 30 years old. I feel that the ``young man'' that we were never able to become has finally appeared. That feeling is the main reason why I'm working with them now.

Chikara Fujiwara/Kenji Yamauchi

Fujiwara: But while nurturing young people is easy to say, it is actually extremely difficult. Mr. Yamauchi also teaches at a school, what do you think about that?

Yamauchi: First of all, in my position as an actor, I don't really have a teacher-pupil relationship to teach others.

The older you get, the more power relationships such as age, career, gender differences, etc. that become prerequisites for harassment accumulate. As an actor, you have to eliminate this as much as possible.

Fujiwara: Ah, that's a really good story...

Yamauchi: I think actors who do a good job have the ability to look at you the same way when you first meet them.

In this competitive society, if there are 100 students, 20 will remain in their 20s, 10 will remain in their 30s, and 5 will remain in their 40s. So what will happen to the remaining 95 people? That's something we always keep in mind at school. So it's okay to hate me, but I don't want you to hate theater; my mission is to tell you that theater is bigger than that.

When Oriza Hirata taught theater at Oberlin University, he said that the liberal arts approach was a good idea, and I also thought that was correct.

Fujiwara: I would like to hear more details about that.

Yamauchi: I also teach at a film school, which is a place where the goal is for actors to become overwhelmingly good, so we have to improve our students through training. So I have to put pressure on him. In other words, if you pressure them, you won't be able to play with them. I mean, it's like having a relationship where your partner is completely criticizing your performance. However, I now have things that I want to do even if I accept that kind of power relationship.

Fujiwara: I see. After hearing what you just said, I feel like things that have been confusing me lately have become a little clearer. I have the same dilemma. Even though I really want to play more, I feel like it's creating a power relationship...

Yamauchi: That's why it's better to call it liberal arts.

Fujiwara: By the way, what do you mean by liberal arts that Oberlin University advocates?

Yamauchi: Things that enrich life. I feel like the closest thing to this is learning and respecting one's predecessors. In other words, theater is amazing. It's not blind faith, it's respect.

Fujiwara: I see. Richness comes from respect.

Yamauchi: As actors, in order for both parties to perform at a high level, at least the party with the stronger power relationship must be aware of this. I think that the moment we start to exercise power over the scene, people will move away from the lively interactions between people.

Fujiwara: I understand very well. I feel like I was able to hear the secret that I wanted to hear the most right now.

Yamauchi: But even if we think we're just having fun, the other side usually treats us like our seniors. That's what it is (lol)

Chikara Fujiwara/Kenji Yamauchi

Mr. Yamauchi and Yokohama - Why are things and people gathering in Yokohama?

Fujiwara: For the past few years, Yukio Shiba and his friends have been developing a project called ``Theater Zou no Hana'' at Zou-no-hana Terrace, and they went outside the theater with the concept of ``passing through theater.'' Mr. Yamauchi is also participating as a member and is creating ``Just Listen! 3 Minute Trip.'' Well, it's actually not 3 minutes at all... (lol)

*Please also refer to this article on SYNODOS regarding “Theater Zounohana”!
Beyond “passing by theater” - Theater Magoto “Theater Zounohana”

Yamauchi: Yeah, 10 minutes (lol)

Fujiwara: In recent years, I've been working on a project called ``Geki Quest,'' and from that perspective, I think Yokohama is an interesting place.

Yamauchi: What do you find interesting about Yokohama?

Fujiwara: I'd like to ask you a reverse question (lol).

Yamauchi: For me, it's the terrain.

Fujiwara: What is your heart?

Yamauchi: Delta.

Fujiwara: So Yoshida Arata?

*Yoshida Shinden: A new rice field cultivated in the area that covers what is now Naka Ward and Minami Ward in Yokohama City. This region has a valley-like topography sandwiched between Nogeyama to the north and the Yamate diluvial plateau to the south. Villages such as Yokohama Village and Noge Village are located at the mouth of an inlet that was drowned by the rising sea level that occurred during the Jomon period. However, in search of larger rice fields, Yoshida Kanbei obtained permission from the shogunate to cultivate new rice fields during the Edo period.

Yamauchi: Yeah.

Yokohama is a city that has changed over time, including times when it was like Japan's front door, and times when it was taken over by the US military, but I wonder why people gather here and grow old here. I've been thinking about it all the time. However, I thought that this space surrounded by Noge and Yamate mountains, one side closed off diagonally and the other side open to the world, the psychological effect of this topography was great... .

But I wonder why things and people are gathering in Yokohama like that. There's no place like that in Tokyo.

Fujiwara: I wonder why.

Yamauchi: I tend to think in terms of theater, so I tend to focus on three things: place, people, and drama, so I tend to wander around places that make me conscious of those things. right.

Fujiwara: For example, if you were talking about “people” right now, who specifically would you be interested in?

Yamauchi: Well, when I say "people," I mean whether you can really get a feel for who the people who gather in the same place are. So, I've been doing a lot of research on Yokohama in connection with Zou-no-hana Terrace's ``Theater Zou-no-Hana,'' but in the end, Yokohama was destroyed by the Yokohama Air Raid and the Great Kanto Earthquake, so I can't go back in time. Yo. It feels kind of disconnected. Although it has a history, one of the characteristics of Yokohama is that it has been cut off.

Fujiwara: It's true that the focus is on history after the opening of the port.

Yamauchi: Yes, even in the city library and the Port Opening Memorial Museum, there were almost no materials about Yokohama Village before the port opened. That's why I'm trying to explore directions such as folklore and contemporary studies, and I'm also conducting street observations, but there aren't any traces of that left on the streets anymore. But isn't it amazing that you can access the past with terrain?

Fujiwara: Mr. Yamauchi, where does your desire to “access the past” come from?

Yamauchi: It's the location. Maybe it's the memories that have accumulated there, or the feelings of people from the past.

There are traces of human involvement in both objects and places, and of course there are traces of someone sanding this table. There are some places where things from over 100 years ago still remain today, but Yokohama is a place where there are extremely few traces of human involvement before the Edo period. I call it the problem of reclaiming places, and when it comes to theater, today's theaters are often located in places that have been reclaimed, where traces of the past have been erased. That's why I feel like I don't know where I am. We receive requests to perform in these reclaimed theaters and reclaimed towns. When that happens, I start thinking about how I can access that sense of place.

Fujiwara: The traces will be erased, right?

Ah, it's delicious. What was this?

Yamauchi: Rib core. This is really delicious.

The rib core is often sold out if you go late.

The rib core is often sold out if you go late.

cross the edge, cross the border, go on an adventure

Fujiwara: I went to Tama New Town the other day, and it was like a new town, and I felt dizzy.

Yamauchi: There aren't any bars like this over there.

But do you know what Hashimoto Station is? The atmosphere has completely changed since the Keio Line came through, but they have purposely built a standing bar in Keio Crown Street. I was moved by that.

Fujiwara: Huh.

I'm curious to see how an artist like Yamauchi, who also works outside the theater, will perceive a new town like Tama Center.

Yamauchi: Hmm... It depends on the location, but housing complexes have dark sides within them, such as yakuza, people on welfare, and people dying alone. On the contrary, I have hope in that regard.

Fujiwara: The dark side of the housing complex...? I feel like Kohoku New Town is still a little like that. It might be tough to live in a town that doesn't have a dark side. Part of the reason I moved to Yokohama was because of the dark side.

Chikara Fujiwara/Kenji Yamauchi

Yamauchi: If I had to make a hypothesis, Kohoku still retains its topography, but Tama New Town is an extremely leveled place. It was reclaimed so much that the topography could no longer be preserved. It may be a bit similar to how China created an outside world by radically excluding foreign ethnic groups from far away, calling them Nanban or Western Ebisu, but Tama New Town clearly has a dark side called ``Abyss.'' That's what I think.

Fujiwara: By the way, the other day, when I was in residence producing ``Geki Quest'' at the Kinosaki International Art Center, I went to a place called Momoshima, which is just over a mountain pass from the hot spring town of Kinosaki. That was amazing. If Mr. Yamauchi went there, I would definitely go crazy (lol)

There, there is a stone monument representing the grudges of abandoned farmers, with words like ``Waiting for the criticism of future historians'' written on it. But that had already been largely forgotten. By crossing the abyss and crossing boundaries, perhaps something else becomes visible. I guess that's what "adventure" is.

Yamauchi: Yeah. I think the children of Tama New Town will probably ride their bicycles to the pool. And that's great.

Fujiwara: Yeah, that's right. I definitely want to go beyond the edge and go on an adventure...

complete

Here is the store information

Here is the menu we had today

List of menus we received today

And this time, Chikara Fujiwara's recommendation is...

grilled liver

Note: Be sure to grill it on a gas burner before eating!

Miyagawabashi Offal Meat Shop
http://tabelog.com/kanagawa/A1401/A140102/14042505/
1-4 Miyagawa-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture
TEL: Private
Closed: Tuesdays and Mondays that are public holidays
Business hours: [Weekdays] After 16:00 - 23:00 [Friday and Saturday] After 16:00 - 24:00 [Sundays and holidays] After 16:00 - 22:30
*Opening time will be as soon as preparation is completed between 16:00 and 16:59. please note.
Access: 6 minutes walk from JR "Sakuragicho Station" / 6 minutes walk from Keikyu "Hinodecho Station" / 305m from Sakuragicho Station

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