Letter from Snufkin by Shoji Kokami: Plot and Kishida Prize | Play Guide

Introduction

Shoji Kokami (鴻上尚史, born 1958) is one of the leading figures of Japan's 1980s small-theater boom, and his play Letter from Snufkin (スナフキンの手紙, Sunafukin no Tegami; the Japan Foundation gives the English title as Snufkin's Letter) won the 39th Kishida Kunio Drama Award in 1995, shared with Oriza Hirata's Tokyo Notes. It is a play of the 1990s: Kokami's company, Third Stage, first performed it in July 1994, thirteen years after the company was formed.

Shoji Kokami and the Third Stage

Kokami formed Third Stage (第三舞台, Daisan Butai) in 1981 as a troupe within Waseda University's drama club, and it became independent in 1985. The Japan Foundation describes the company as one that became popular for its playful works. Hideki Noda's Yume no Yuminsha was another leading company of that boom.

The first production of Letter from Snufkin was directed by Kokami, with Narushi Ikeda among the cast. It played at the Tennozu Art Sphere and the Kintetsu Theater.

The Title: Snufkin

The title uses the name of Snufkin, the wanderer in Tove Jansson's Moomin books, who lives in a tent, plays the harmonica, and dislikes authority and rules. The Moomins are well known in Japan, where television anime versions began in 1969.

We could not confirm what Kokami meant by the title, or whether Snufkin or a letter plays any part in the story. The sources we consulted do not say. The play's relation to the Moomin stories should not be assumed from its title.

The Play: A Japan Where the Revolution Succeeded

The following summary rests on the Japanese Wikipedia entry for the play, the only account of the plot we could find.

The play is set in a parallel-world Japan of the 1990s, in which a revolution by the United Red Army succeeded in the 1960s. Groups with competing interests are locked in continuing conflict, among them an "Alliance of Foreign Residents in Japan" (在日外国人同盟), an "Otaku Alliance" (おたく主義者同盟), a "Returnee Children's Front" (帰国子女戦線), and a "Bride Front, Ordinary Faction" (花嫁戦線平凡派). (These English names are our own translations.)

The action centers on Gotoda, the head of the government forces who police these groups, along with his superiors and subordinates, an idol who carries out guerrilla actions and her manager, and a suicide consultant. As undercover investigations proceed, the people on the government's side turn out to belong to the very groups they are policing, and the play develops into slapstick.

Where the Play Came From

The same entry connects the play to a magazine feature in which Kokami invited readers to send in love letters they had never mailed, as a kind of memorial for them. Reading them, he came to think about "unspoken words," which he believed truly arise after a fight. According to the entry, this led to the writing of the play. It also describes Phantom Pain (ファントム・ペイン, 2001) as a sequel.

Legacy

Third Stage went on hiatus after Phantom Pain in 2001, held a farewell production in 2011-2012, and formally dissolved in January 2012.

Kokami himself has continued to be a major presence in Japanese theater and media, working as a director, essayist, and television presenter, and through his production unit KOKAMI@network. The Japan Foundation's profile also lists him as a member of the Kishida Prize selection committee.

For those interested in exploring more Japanese theatrical scripts and discovering works by Kokami and his contemporaries, visit our script library where you can search for works by various Japanese playwrights.