During his final year at Osaka University of Arts in 1980, Hidenori Inoue founded the Gekidan★Shinkansen theater company with several classmates. The 48-year-old native of Fukuoka in Kyushu hasn't looked back since.
"I got a huge response from audiences early on," he told The Japan Times recently, "and because applause is a hard thing to turn away fromI have continued as a stage director for nearly 30 years."
Though Gekidan★Shinkansen practices what Inoue calls a manga style of theater — "with full-on sound effects and stylish and speedy action scenes" — his works have come to be known as "Inoue kabuki." The showy productions dominate the entertainment drama scene in Japan, but Inoue is not one to rest on his laurels. In recent years, he has collaborated with other types of dramatists to concentrate on story-telling over effects. His latest such production is "Richard III," his second attempt at Shakespeare, opening Jan. 10 in Sendai. As one who has never been afraid of taking the bull by the horns, Inoue is a more than appropriate dramatist to feature on this New Year's Day.