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Asahi Shimbun
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Asahi Shimbun
Manga about Prince Shotoku to be made into Noh-kyogen play
From left, Ohtsuki Yuichi, Nomura Mansai, Ohtsuki Bunzo and Ryoko Yamagishi pose for a photo during an event held in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward to unveil the production of a Noh-kyogen drama piece based on Yamagishi's manga 'Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi.' (Satoshi Yamazaki) A classic manga by Ryoko Yamagishi featuring Prince Shotoku of ancient Japan will be adapted into a traditional Noh-kyogen drama piece. Nomura Mansai, an acclaimed actor in 'kyogen,' a traditional form of comedic theater, will direct the stage production and play the protagonist, Prince Umayado, better known as Prince Shotoku, in 'Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi' (The emperor of the land where the sun rises). 'The most difficult part is to play Umayado without ruining your image of the prince,' he said during an event held in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward to unveil the production. 'I hope I can fulfill everyone's expectations.' The original manga is the author's representative work that was serialized from 1980 to 1984. The story depicts the political machinations of the beautiful but cold-blooded Umayado and his fateful encounter with Soga no Emishi, an heir to a powerful regional family. What garnered particular attention were scenes in which Umayado uses supernatural powers to connect with invisible beings. 'Noh-kyogen is also a stage that connects the netherworld and the human world,' Mansai said. 'I think we have a great advantage.' The production is the second Noh-kyogen stage adaptation of a manga title following 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba,' which premiered in 2022 based on Koyoharu Gotoge's comic series of the same name. Ohtsuki Bunzo, a Noh actor designated as a living national treasure who reprises his role as supervisor, said they don't give preference to manga works for their subject matters, before adding: 'There is an interesting trend I had never imagined, and I want to make it a stage that can win the heart of the audience.' Ohtsuki Yuichi, a Noh performer who plays Emishi's younger sister, Tojiko no Iratsume, said he found similarities between Noh theater and the original manga's frame compositions, which feature beautifully illustrated characters against the white background. 'There are common grounds with Noh theater's appeal, which is the balance between 'stillness and dynamism.' I strongly felt the affinity,' he said. The production's slogan, 'Hara to sora: Itoshiki omoi wo izukuni hanatsuzo' (Womb and sky: To where should my loving feelings be released?), was conceived by Mansai. 'There are a microcosmos of humans and a macrocosmos that surrounds humans. It feels like both are connected when things are seen with Umayado at the center,' he said. 'The distinctive feature of Noh-kyogen is that they transcend reasons with the help of symbolic scenes. I hope the audience will say, 'Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi' is now complete thanks to Noh-kyogen.' When asked whether she saw similarities between her manga and Noh-kyogen in terms of expression in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, Yamagishi said that she did. 'I'm interested in the afterworld and things that lie between life and death, and a lot of such things are also present in 'Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi.' After all, Umayado is someone who peeks into the netherworld,' she said. 'While the manga portrays such a world, I received the offer for the stage adaptation in the style of Noh-kyogen that deals with the netherworld and the human world, and I thought to myself that it would be perfect in a way.' The show will be staged at the Kanze Noh Theater in Tokyo's Ginza district on Aug. 7-10, with additional dates on Dec. 1-2. Tickets are sold out. Visit the official website at (
New York Times
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Marie Kondo, Takashi Murakami and the Other Japanese Icons on T's New Covers
The five covers of T's annual Culture issue — which this year is devoted entirely to Japan and its outsize cultural influence on the world — feature six of the country's icons, one of whom is nonhuman. The 88-year-old artist and graphic designer Tadanori Yokoo made a collage featuring classic Japanese monsters — with Godzilla as the star — for his cover. The other subjects were shot by the photographer Piczo in various Tokyo locations at night, accompanied by models wearing spring looks from Japanese fashion designers and replicas of ancient Japanese masks, many of them from the tradition of Noh theater, which dates to the 14th century. The diverse group, which includes an international television star, a shape-shifting photographer, a pair of architects reconceiving contemporary museum design and a wildly successful artist, has redefined the way that Japan looks, thinks and creates. Takashi Murakami With work that includes painting and sculpture but also music videos, album covers, toys, key chains, trading cards and a recently rereleased collection of Louis Vuitton bags, Takashi Murakami, 63, is arguably Japan's best-known living artist. The founder of the Superflat movement — which compresses the iconography of Japanese culture into cartoonish, brightly colored 2-D imagery — Murakami, who is based in Tokyo, studied traditional Japanese painting in art school, an education reflected in two new exhibits. A solo show at Gagosian in New York opening in May will include the paintings he created in response to the 19th-century artist Utagawa Hiroshige's '100 Famous Views of Edo,' while 'Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow,' on view from May 25 to Sept. 7 at the Cleveland Museum of Art, will fill the museum's atrium with his re-creation of the Yumedono (or Hall of Dreams), an octagonal structure built in the eighth century as part of the Horyuji temple complex in Nara. Hair and makeup by Rie Shiraishi. Model: Mayo at Stanford Marie Kondo Marie Kondo, 40, realized at age 5 that she preferred organizing her dolls to playing with them. As a 19-year-old university student in Tokyo, she established what she calls her 'tidying' business and, seven years later, in 2010, published her first book, 'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,' which has been translated into 44 languages and adapted into a hit Netflix series. It was Kondo's show that introduced mainstream America to the idea that possessions worth holding on to should, as she has famously said, 'spark joy,' a concept she discovered after blacking out during a particularly grueling clutter-clearing session and waking up to find that, if she looked at them closely, treasured objects appeared to glow. Her company is now based in Los Angeles. Hair by Yusuke Morioka at Eight Peace. Makeup by Asami Taguchi at Home Agency Tokyo. Prop stylist: Agnes Natawijaya. Model: Mayo at Stanford Explore More Read the editor's letter here. Take a closer look at the covers. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
