Disability and Theater in Japan: Inclusive Performance and Accessible Art

Introduction

The intersection of disability and theater in Japan is a field of real creativity. A number of companies, artists, and organizations have created work that expands who can take part in theater, as performers and as audience members.

This movement is not simply about inclusion as a social good, though it is certainly that. Its leading figures argue that disabled performers bring something new to the stage: the founder of Performance Troupe Taihen, for example, holds that when a disabled body becomes a means of expression, a "never-seen beauty" can be created.

Historical Context

Performance Troupe Taihen's founder, Manri Kim, came to theater through the disability rights activism of the 1970s. She began living independently with 24-hour attendants in 1975, reportedly the first such case in Japan, and then spent about ten years campaigning against eugenicist ideology before founding her company in 1983.

More recently, the Act on Promotion of Cultural and Artistic Activities by Persons with Disabilities, promulgated in June 2018, committed the Japanese government to promoting cultural activity by people with disabilities. A basic plan followed in March 2019, and a second plan covers fiscal 2023 to 2027. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare also supports a network of centers promoting activities in fields including theater, and a National Arts and Culture Festival for Persons with Disabilities.

Pioneering Companies and Artists

Several Japanese companies and organizations have been at the forefront of this work.

Performance Troupe Taihen (劇団態変), based in Osaka, was founded in 1983 by Manri Kim (born in 1953), the youngest daughter of the Korean traditional performing artist Kim Honju. She contracted polio at the age of three. The company's debut piece, Iro wa Nioedo (1983), centered on people with disabilities asserting their own identity. From the late 1980s, the company moved toward the body itself as a means of expression and toward physical theater. It marked its 30th anniversary in 2014 with Over the Rainbow, its 60th production. Kim also leads physical expression workshops in Japan and abroad, including in Edinburgh, Berlin, Stuttgart, and Kuala Lumpur.

The Japan Deaf Theater Company (日本ろう者劇団) grew out of the Tokyo Deaf Theater Circle, formed in 1980 by Deaf theater enthusiasts. In 1982 it became a company affiliated with the Totto Foundation. It is known for sign language kyogen, created under the guidance of Ukon Miyake of the Izumi school. In 2013 it performed sign language kyogen in Reims, France, and in London.

Able Art Japan (エイブル・アート・ジャパン) began in 1994 as the Japan Association of Arts and Culture for People with Disabilities (日本障害者芸術文化協会) and took its present name in 2000. It became a nonprofit corporation in 2011. Its "Able Art Movement" has worked to create places and systems where people with disabilities can make and present their work.

Butoh and the Disabled Body

The relationship between butoh and disability is often discussed. Butoh, the form of Japanese dance theater founded by Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno, dates its beginning to Forbidden Colors (Kinjiki) in 1959. Early work was called ankoku butoh ("dance of darkness"), and Hijikata's work reacted against Western ballet and modern dance and against traditional forms, using grotesque imagery and taboo subjects.

There is at least one recorded meeting of the two worlds: the Dance Archive Network lists Playing with the Universe, a work credited to Manri Kim, Kazuo Ohno, and Yoshito Ohno.

Accessibility in Japanese Theater

The most visible organization working on access for audiences is Theater Accessibility Network (TA-net), a nonprofit led by Asako Hirokawa, who joined the Japan Deaf Theater Company in 1994. Deaf and hard-of-hearing people are at its center, and its motto is "Let's enjoy the stage together!"

TA-net shares information on accessible performances, advises audience members and theater companies, surveys what users and providers need, and trains people in theater access. Examples of the support it helps to provide include sign language interpretation, captions, audio guides, pre-show stage explanations, and stage models that can be touched. Since 2018 it has run training courses for stage sign language interpreters around the country.

To explore Japanese theater and discover plays that challenge conventions, visit our script library.