This is an adaptation for the stage of Yukio Mishima’s last full-length novel tetralogy by the same title. The novels tell the story of the cycle of birth, death and rebirth of a handsome young aristocrat named Kiyoaki Matsugae. The first novel tells the story of Kiyoaki and his lover, and of his school friend, Shigekuni Honda. The second and third novels tell of Kiyoaki’s reincarnation as a rightist youth and the meeting of Honda and foreign princess, while the fourth novel tells of the aged Honda being made a fool of by a youth he adopts. The play takes Honda as its main character while shifting back and forth intricately between the four stories.

This play that won the 22nd Tsuruya Nanboku Drama Award is a bold adaptation for the stage by Oriza Hirata of Genichiro Takahashi’s book by the same title exploring the works and personal lives of leading literary figures of Japan’s Meiji Period (1868 – 1912) while also interjecting contemporary events of our day. The play depicts the wakes or post-funeral banquets for four authors of the period: Toukoku Kitamura, Shiki Masaoka, Shimei Futabatei and Soseki Natsume. The discussions that take place between the deceased’s fellow authors there to grieve and the occasional intruders of our age focuses on the questions of literary expression.

After losing his left arm in active service during World War II in the Pacific, Shigeru Mizuki (1922 – 2015) went on to become a manga artist after the War and lead his era with the manga GeGeGe no Kitaro with supernatural characters based on folk creatures known as yokai. Maekawa, a writer greatly influenced by Mizuki, wrote this play based on his short stories as homage to Mizuki and the underlying themes of war and poverty found in most of his work. It is set in a country of Japan in the near future where the birthrate has dropped drastically and the population is steadily decreasing. The story develops from the arrival of a young couple that has fled the city at the shack in a country town where the semi-yokai Nezu is living.

Opened in 2014 as an artist-in-residence facility in the Kinosaki hot spring spa town of Toyooka City, Hyogo prefecture, this municipal center of Toyooka City is dedicated primarily to programs for artists in the performing arts. Renovated from the former Kinosaki residence-type conference and study center with its large hall (capacity of up to 1,000), the new Center has performance hall and six studios and residence facilities for up to 22 artists. With artists able to stay for periods of up to three months free of charge, the center now serves as a base for creation of new dance and theater works and creation of international collaborative productions.

Performing Arts Alliance (PAA) first came into existence as the performing arts league, a collective effort of performing art groups to demand an exemption from sales tax on tickets and to abolish script censorship. Today, it is Taiwan’s largest performing arts organization platform with programs for operating a performing arts database, cultivating arts professionals, conducting surveys and engaged in advocacy (defending rights and making policy recommendations) in the performing arts field.

Established in 1956 by the last will and testament of Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869-1955), an Armenian-born oil baron and entrepreneur of British citizenship, the Foundation is one of the leading private foundations in Portugal. Its aim is to improve the quality of life for persons throughout the fields of the arts, science, charity and education. Working from its headquarters in Lisbon (Portugal) and its delegations in Paris (France) and London (the United Kingdom), the Foundation operates programs in tie-ups with Portuguese-speaking African countries and other communities.