Eri Watanabe (渡辺えり): Playwright, Director, Actress

Introduction

Eri Watanabe (渡辺えり, born 1955; credited until 2007 as 渡辺えり子, Eriko Watanabe) is a playwright, director, actress, and singer who has been making theater for more than four decades. She won the 27th Kishida Kunio Drama Award in 1983 for GeGeGe no Ge (ゲゲゲのげ). The prize was shared that year with Hideki Noda and Kiyokazu Yamamoto.

Early Life and Career

Watanabe was born on January 5, 1955, in Yamagata City, in the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan.

She moved into theater through the Butai Geijutsu Gakuin theater school and the directing department of the company Seihai. In 1978, with fellow students including Masako Motai, she founded 劇団2○○, renamed 劇団3○○ (Gekidan Sanjumaru) in 1980. She led the company as playwright, director, and actress until it disbanded in the late 1990s. (Her own company's pages give both 1997 and 1998.)

In 2001 she launched the production group Uchudo (宇宙堂), which later became Office 3○○ (Sanjumaru), the company she leads today.

The Kishida Prize-Winning Work

GeGeGe no Ge (full title ゲゲゲのげ逢魔が時に揺れるブランコ, published by Hakusuisha in 1983) received the 27th Kishida Kunio Drama Award in 1983. The other winners that year were Hideki Noda's Descent of the Beast (野獣降臨) and Kiyokazu Yamamoto's 比野置ジャンバラヤ.

According to a Japanese profile of Watanabe, the play is built around a bullied child, Makio, and Kitaro, who comes to help him, and it moves between reality and dream. The same profile says that it reflects her own experience of being bullied. Kitaro is the boy yokai of Shigeru Mizuki's popular manga GeGeGe no Kitaro.

Theatrical Work and Public Role

Awards for Playwriting: Besides the Kishida Prize, Watanabe received the Theater Green Award for 改訂版タ・イ・ム and 夢坂下って雨が降る (1980--1981) and the Kinokuniya Drama Award for individuals for Mabuta no Onna (瞼の女, 1987).

Regional Identity: Watanabe has kept her connection with Yamagata. In a newspaper interview she described plans for a film shot entirely in Yamagata, about a girl in Yamagata who wants to do theater.

Social Engagement: Watanabe has spoken publicly on peace and constitutional issues. She chaired the Japan Playwrights Association from March 2018 to February 2022, and her company's profile says that she led the theater emergency support project during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Major Works

The following plays by Watanabe could be confirmed. Publication years are for the book, not the premiere.

GeGeGe no Ge (ゲゲゲのげ) (published 1983) --- The Kishida Prize-winning play.
Yoru no Kage (夜の影優しい怪談) (published 1983)
Mabuta no Onna (瞼の女まだ見ぬ海からの手紙) (published 1985) --- Kinokuniya Drama Award.
Hikaru Jikan (光る時間) and Tsukiyo no Dokeshi (月夜の道化師) --- Collected in a Hayakawa Engeki Bunko paperback (2007).
Shinya Tokkyu: Mezamereba Betsu no Kuni (深夜特急めざめれば別の国) --- A family that has fallen apart after an incident.
Kujira yo! Watashi no Te ni Nore (鯨よ！私の手に乗れ) --- Women with dementia in an old people's home who once belonged to the same theater company rehearse an unfinished play. Revived in 2025 for her seventieth-birthday productions, together with Ribon (りぼん).

As an actress, Watanabe has appeared in many films and television programs, including the NHK dramas Oshin (1983) and Amachan (2013) and the film Shall We Dance? (1996), which brought her the Hochi Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.

How to Experience Their Work

To discover Eri Watanabe's theater, visit our script search page or the entry for GeGeGe no Ge. In Japan, Office 3○○ continues to produce her work, and Watanabe remains active: in 2025 she directed and appeared in an Office 3○○ production of Juro Kara's The Virgin's Mask, and a play written and directed by her, 消えた花をさがして, is scheduled for 2027.

Eri Watanabe (渡辺えり) | Kishida Prize-Winning Playwright Guide