Nobuko Tanaka - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

Nobuko Tanaka

Meta

Nobuko Tanaka

Nobuko Tanaka is a stage writer who has regularly contributed contemporary theater and dance articles to The Japan Times since 2001. She also writes for several Japanese and overseas magazines and web sites. As a promoter, she takes Japanese artists to foreign theater festivals.

For Nobuko Tanaka's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Jul 3, 2018

Keiko Miyata to mark departure from the New National Theatre, Tokyo, with piece by up-and-coming playwright

After eight years as artistic director for drama at the New National Theatre, Tokyo, Keiko Miyata, 60, is now tackling her final program there before passing the baton to 39-year-old Eriko Ogawa, who is set to become the theater's youngest-ever director in September.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Jun 6, 2018

K-Ballet brings 'Cleopatra' back for another dance

Tetsuya Kumakawa speaks about his most recent project, "Cleopatra," in a way that's as grand as the Egyptian queen herself.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

May 15, 2018

Three dancers seek to redefine the contemporary form of their art in 'Dan-su Series 3'

Contemporary dance seemed to enter the wider arts consciousness in Japan around the turn of the century, when there was a pronounced upsurge in the number of performances, festivals and competitions.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

May 8, 2018

Keishi Nagatsuka navigates cultural differences in bringing play about capital punishment to Japan

For casual fans of film, the name Martin McDonagh only became familiar after the movie he wrote, directed and produced, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," became the talk of this year's awards season.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Apr 19, 2018

Shizuoka stage festival aims to engage its audiences the old-fashioned way

This hasn't been a great year for social media. Internet addiction has been a hot topic, as have privacy issues, and there has even been a movement to #DeleteFacebook.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Apr 11, 2018

'Ballyturk' delivers a surreal yet exciting challenge

When Akira Shirai first read the script for "Ballyturk," he quickly understood why its creator, Irish playwright Enda Walsh, said the work "should bypass the intellect and go straight into your bones."

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Mar 20, 2018

Force and fragility meet and merge in 'Dunas'

There are mutual squeals of delight when Belgian dance artist Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Spanish flamenco dancer Maria Pages are reunited after "far too long" at a Tokyo rehearsal studio.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Mar 15, 2018

Dairakudakan's 'unearthly' butoh meets a tortured Russian tale

Following a January press conference in which the New National Theatre, Tokyo, announced that Dairakudakan, one of the world's leading butoh companies, would be staging two performances of "Tsumi to Batsu" ("Crime and Punishment") in March, troupe founder Akaji Maro delivered a triumphant statement.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Feb 22, 2018

Chiaki Soma puts on a not-so-common theater festival

In the world of Japanese contemporary drama, the action often takes place offstage as well as on.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Feb 8, 2018

TPAM's magic happens in front of and behind the curtain

Back in 1995, some of the movers and shakers of the domestic theater scene got together at various venues around the capital for an event called the Tokyo Performing Arts Market. The aim was simple: connect up-and-coming Japanese artists to the producers and theater buffs who might be able to support their work.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage / Backstage Pass

Feb 1, 2018

Change is in the air for New National Theater Tokyo in 2018

At the start of each year the New National Theatre Tokyo holds a media event at which the artistic directors of its three departments covering opera, drama and dance (ballet and contemporary) outline their aims and announce the upcoming programs. This time there was an unusual buzz in the air on Jan. 11, because two of the three directors will be new to their positions when the NNTT's 2018/19 season starts in autumn.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Jan 17, 2018

Jerome Bel and his amateurs test the limits of contemporary dance in Saitama show

Controversial French choreographer lets the locals loose in 'Gala.'

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Jan 11, 2018

Dramatist Oriza Hirata has a vision for theater

Travel around around 150 km northwest from the hustle and bustle of Kyoto and another, far more peaceful world awaits in the compact onsen (hot-spring) town of Kinosaki nestled on the Sea of Japan coast in a quiet corner of the largely rural city of Toyooka in Hyogo Prefecture.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Dec 19, 2017

Japan's theater world increasingly shed its insularities in 2017

Never mind those North Korean missiles that provide politicians with heaven-sent pretexts to posture. These days, everyone's talking about a boozy party held by Mongolian sumo wrestlers that turned violent reportedly because of a generational dispute over the arcane traditions of Japan's highly regimented national sport.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Dec 19, 2017

A year filled with standing ovations

While 2017 featured many great stage productions and performances, these were among the standouts:

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Dec 19, 2017

An outside perspective may be just what the Japanese stage needs

There aren't many non-Japanese people working in the world of Japanese theater. That's a shame, because often an outside perspective can help spot weaknesses that the majority aren't able to see.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Dec 5, 2017

Ibsen's 'Peer Gynt' gets a cultural twist when director Yang Jung-ung teams up with actor Kenji Urai

South Korean director Yang Jung-ung's career has spanned several continents. From his theater work, with casts of numerous nationalities, to his role as artistic director for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, it's clear he has long had the world in his sights.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Nov 21, 2017

Junpei Mizobata plunges headfirst into the absurdist world of Harold Pinter

As the saying goes, "You can't judge a book by its cover." In the same way, if you thought the 28-year-old ikemen (drop-dead gorgeous) actor Junpei Mizobata had just been cast to fill seats for the upcoming staging of one of the world's most well-known but challenging modern plays, you'd be doing a great injustice to a great young talent.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Nov 7, 2017

A 2010 play by Hideki Noda gets wry extra twists of English humor in 'One Green Bottle'

"One Green Bottle" is a new-ish work co-written by the renowned Japanese dramatist Hideki Noda and Will Sharpe, who shot to fame in Britain in 2016 with the comedy series "Flowers," which he wrote, directed and also starred in.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Stage

Oct 12, 2017

Wanton desire proves to be timeless and borderless in Japanese version of 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses'

The route that has brought Richard Twyman to Tokyo to direct an all-Japanese cast in a play based on an 18th-century French novel has taken many twists and turns.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.

The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports