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:
If the inclusion of Festival/Tokyo in Tokyo Festival's diverse program of performing arts is any indication, theater events in Tokyo have been evolving over the past decade or so. Festival/Tokyo was set up by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 2009 to showcase the city's cutting-edge ...
There has always been a considerable amount of cultural exchange between China and Japan, but we've recently been seeing it take place in new areas like underground music, blockbuster films and contemporary theater. On Oct. 6 and 7, Setagaya Public Theatre in Tokyo will present ...
Renowned theater director Yukio Ninagawa broke new ground when he launched Saitama Gold Theater in 2006. Instead of seasoned actors, he filled his troupe with amateurs who were all older than 55. Now, nearly 100 groups of senior-citizen actors can be seen across the country, ...
Nothing sounds quite like the early 1960s more than the vocals of Frankie Valli. As lead singer of The Four Seasons, his falsetto remains an unmistakable part of classic tunes such as "Sherry" and "Big Girls Don't Cry," though it's also his remarkable voice, ...
The lobby of the Setagaya Public Theatre in Tokyo teemed with women on Sept. 1, each eager to see Kei Tanaka in action. The 34-year-old actor — and judging by the buzz in the lobby, bona fide dreamboat — recently captured hearts in "Ossan's ...
When he was 16, Hideto Iwai was perplexed as to why everyone around him unquestioningly jumped onto society's student-to-salaryman conveyor belt. So, he broke free, dropping out of high school and picking up casual jobs where he could find them. "But then I had problems ...
When the circus comes to town in most parts of the world these days, you won't see elephants, tigers or clowns with big red noses. Since Canada's animal-less Cirque du Soleil took to the road in 1984 with its character-driven shows and nonstop live music, ...
Based in mountainous Oita Prefecture in northeastern Kyushu, the privately owned and run Drum Tao company has barely paused from pounding away at the international entertainment market since it launched its overseas ambitions with a sold-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2004. Since then, ...
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. Rather than ...
Tetsuya Kumakawa speaks about his most recent project, "Cleopatra," in a way that's as grand as the Egyptian queen herself. "Nobody except me could have created this fantastic work," he tells The Japan Times. "I hope it remains a ballet classic for hundreds of years, ...
