- Date
- Thursday, December 18, 2025 19:00~21:00
- Venue
- Arts Council Tokyo
- reporting body
- UPN is a discus rider
- Speaker [Rapporteur]
- Han-no-iri-ha
Kageyama Meteorological Observatory (Playwright/Director/Han-no-iri-ha representative)
Hiwari-geta (Actor/Han-no-iri-ha project member)
UPN GK
Yukari Sakata (Director/UPN GK representative/Terrasia member)
Maho Watanabe (Drama Turku/UPN GK co-representative/Terrasia member) * Video appearance
Miho Inatsugu (Actor/Terrasia member) - commentator
- OSAWA Torao (Senior Researcher, Culture Commons Research Institute, LLC)
- graphic recording
- Yo Arada
- sign language interpreter
- Arisu Ishikawa, Ikuko Obara
- moderator
- TATEISHI Norito (Senior Program Officer, Support Division, Activity Support Division)
The purpose of this debriefing session was to share with the participants the triggers, achievements, and issues of their creations through the activity reports of the organizations selected for the Creation Grant [Long-term Grant], and to use them as ideas for future activities. The two organizations that reported were Category II subsidized organizations that support artistic creation activities for up to three years, including research for the creation of works and other creative processes, and were organizations that thought about new ways of creation while taking different approaches at the same time as society changed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 2 groups that took the stage were "Hang on the discus" which received a grant from FY 2021 and "UPN GK" which received a grant from FY 2022. The group that rides the discus, which runs a project centered on the management of a joint atelier and involved local communities, and UPN, a limited liability company that develops a project called "Terrasia," which is expanding independently under international cooperation, reported how they worked on their creations in different ways.
The debriefing session consisted of two parts. In the first part, each group reported on its activities. In the second part, Torao Osawa of the Cultural Commons Research Institute was invited as a commentator to give a talk session with questions from the participants. In the talk session, participants looked back on the activities of each organization and explored points of contention from the three perspectives of time, space, and people (a term coined to refer to the relationship between people). Since each organization received grants during a period inseparable from the COVID-19 pandemic, people also talked about changes in the creative environment before and after the pandemic.
Part I: Activity Report
The group that rides the discus "The scene of riding the discus" (adopted in FY 2021/3 years)
現代社会における芸術文化の意義を刷新するような新たな言説の創出を目指し、円盤に乗る派のアトリエ及びそのウェブページをプラットフォームとして複数の芸術家の創作の過程、アイデアの実験、交流の様子等、通常は表に出ない部分を公開する取り組みを行った。円盤に乗る場参加団体の活動報告会、発表会（「NEO表現まつり」、「NEO表現まつりサテライト」、「NEO表現まつりZ」）、創作過程を掲載したフリーペーパーの発行、3年間の取り組みをまとめた冊子制作を行い、個々の芸術家がそれぞれの興味・問題意識をベースに、互いに刺激を与え合いつつ交流し、さらに具体的な取り組みを繰り返しながら、それぞれ従来の手法を超えた新たな表現方法を模索した。
https://noruba.net/
What is a creative viewing experience?
At this activity debriefing session, the playwright and director Kageyama Meteorological Station (hereinafter referred to as Kageyama) and the actor Hiyori Geta (hereinafter referred to as Hiyori), who played a role in promoting Grant Programs within the group, gave presentations. The Disc Riding School is developing its activities under the concept of "a place where multiple artists and artists can be in a flat place for time and where they should be" (Kageyama), and has been operating a joint atelier called "Saucer Riding Place" since 2021. This place is not only an atelier, but also a community of artists. The "NEO Expression Festival", which is the center of this announcement, is one of the projects conducted as a platform for a joint atelier community as a place for people who ride discs to ride discs.
"The idea of a larger project through my discus riding studio was the inspiration for the funded project." says Kageyama. She thought that opening her studio to outsiders, which operates in a unique way based on the loose communality of the members who use it, would itself be an expression activity. Originally, the atelier was opened regularly in the form of open days, but a sense of wanting to do something bigger began to grow within the management. "The atelier itself regularly holds events that the general public can come to, such as an open day once a month, but it always feels like a series of small-scale events. Instead, we decided to do something bigger and bigger, which led us to this project." (Kageyama)
Behind these ideas was Kageyama's own thoughts about the "atelier". From an artist's point of view, an atelier is a place to create and practice plays, but it is also a community centered on the artists who use it. Such a loosely knit atelier can push you to do things you normally can't. "Even if you want to do something, but it would be difficult for you to do it alone, you can realize it by having an atelier as a community. That's what we expect." said Kageyama. Before performing in front of an audience in an environment such as a theater and a theater, I think that the things that I want to try and experiment, though not so much to be so ambitious, can be realized in an atelier as a community. Kageyama also thought that he could create a community in the form of an atelier where people could share not only their creative worries but also their financial and sometimes emotional problems. "From the point of view of the audience, the studio may be a place where a special viewing experience is born." says Kageyama. Atelier may offer a different form of encounter with works than theater or general exhibition spaces. It is not a passive form, but a kind of creative experience that comes up in the mind. Kageyama envisioned a new way of using the studio, both from the perspective of the artist who uses the studio and the perspective of the audience who visits the studio.
Sublimation of Activities: Focusing on Matsuri
Six months after starting activities based on Kageyama's plan, a debriefing session was held. After that, Hiyori promoted the project. Hiyori began to feel the need to consolidate the direction of his activities under the constraint that he could not carry out many activities in parallel. Therefore, we decided to set a specific goal in the form of a festival based on the concept of Kageyama. By the time Hiyori became the center of his business, he had made connections with people in the Nishiogu area of Arakawa Ward, where his discus riding studio is located, and had an idea of available space. "We were able to form 'hands-off but cooperative' relationships with local people," says Hiyori. The NEO Expression Festival held in 2023 and the NEO Expression Festival Z held in 2024 have borne fruit as concrete events while making use of the network with local communities.
There is a reason why the activities became sublimated in the form of 'Matsuri.'. "There are stalls lined up at the festival, but the stalls sell completely different things. but at the same time in the same space. I thought that this means that it is OK even if things with various intentions are lined up. Other than that, I think we do Shinto rituals, and I think Shinto rituals are doing what is necessary for a certain world, apart from whether they specifically give joy. I felt that this was similar to the work of the discus riders and the artists who participate in the discus rides, who make work that is not necessarily easy for everyone to understand." At the "NEO Expression Festival," each artist will come up with a presentation that utilizes their skills. The discus crowd is loosely focused but does not dictate the activities of individual artists. In addition, a festival can be established not only by exhibitors but also by participants. This was in line with the original goal of creating a creative viewing experience with audience participation.
The name "NEO Expression Festival" is also ingenious. Instead of using the word “NEW, ” which has a nuance that denies the past, we decided to use the word“ NEO, ” which loosely inherits the past with a sense of novelty. "We came up with the name "NEO Expression Festival." I think "NEO" is different from "NEW" because it means to take over the previous activities and do something new while taking over. And I used the word "expression" because I thought it was pretty important not to use "art."". Behind the NEO Expression Festival was the decision to use the term "expression," which is different from "art" or "work" but can indicate the use of each artist's skills.
"NEO Expression Festival" was started with a plan to increase the scale year by year. Team building had to be strengthened to run the expanding business smoothly. Finally, about 600 people gathered at the NEO Expression Festival Z held in 2024, and they were able to experience a certain level of success. However, Hiyori says that the NEO Expression Festival was born naturally. They developed it based on the situation they were in and their own resources, and as a result they came up with the form of the festival.
About Self-Assessment
What do Hiyori and Kageyama think about the NEO Expression Festival? "Frankly speaking, my assessment is that it became something big. The idea of holding a festival had not been decided at the time of the grant application for this project. The main reason is that it became a festival as a result of considering the situation. I feel like I'm sort of involved in the business." Hiyori said. Perhaps it was important that the event and expression of the festival occurred spontaneously, while being triggered by subsidies. "The first concept was how to make something unformable into a form. The works that are put out in theaters and museums have a form, but the state that is in the studio is something that has not been formed yet. Looking back, I think that the purpose of this business was to put out things in the world that were not in the form of a certain stage in my studio, and to make them look good to people." he says. The form of the festival may be said to be somewhere between an atelier and a theater.
なお、「NEO表現まつり」、「NEO表現まつりZ」の様子は、以下のアーカイブで参照することができる。
NEO表現まつり：https://noruba.net/neo-hyogen-festival/
NEO表現まつりZ：https://noruba.net/neo-hyogen-festival-z/
Godo Kaisha UPN "Terazia | Theater Traveling through the Age of Isolation" (adopted in FY 2022/3 years)
新型コロナウイルスの世界的な流行とともに始まった新時代の国際協働プロジェクト。日本・タイ・ミャンマー・ベトナム・インドネシアのアジア各地で現代の信仰や死生観をテーマとした作品『テラ』を展開した。インドネシア滞在リサーチ、映像作品の制作、国際フェスティバルの開催、「テラジア」のアーティストを対象としたインタビュー等（日英）のウェブ公開、ドキュメンタリーブック電子版の制作を行い、「互いに異なる文化をどのように尊重するか」「離れていても協働は可能か」「困難な状況下でいかに連帯し関わり続けることができるか」という問いに対して、芸術を介してこれからの時代の国際パートナーシップにおける一つのモデルケースを社会に示すことを目指した。
https://upn-jp.com/
a play that travels through an era of isolation
Director Sakata Yukari (Sakata) and actor Inatsugu Miho (Inatsugu) from UPN, a limited liability company that created an international performance project called "Terrasia," took the stage, and co-director Watanabe Maho (Watanabe) from the drama Turku took the stage via video.
"Terazia" is also the name of the international project and the artist collective that carries out the project. The central question of the project is: "Is international co-production possible without cross-border travel?". In the past, it was common to submit a work to an international festival and have the people involved practice together at the venue to create a work. In contrast to this traditional model of international collaboration, Terazia was a project that explored what forms of creation were possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. The answer Terazia came up with was that if people can't move, let the work travel.
Terrasia's activities can be roughly divided into 4 periods: the pre-history of Terrasia from 2018 to 2019, the online period from 2020 to 2022, the on-site period from 2022 to 2023, and Sua Terrasia from 2024 to 2025. Of these, subsidies were received for activities after the on-site period in FY 2022.
First, in order to understand the activities of Terazia, I would like to take a look at the Pre-history of Terazia. The original form of "Terazia" was the Festival Tokyo in 2018. ※1 It was a play called "Terra," which was performed at. Sakata said, "This play, performed in an actual temple rather than a theater, contains many Buddhist elements, such as "Who are we," "What do we believe and where do we go?" and "What is life and what is death?"? ". At the center of the work was a question that became the core of human beings involved in culture and religion, such as the view of life and death and the way of faith."
Terra changed as it moved internationally. First, in 2019, the Carthage Theatre Festival in Tunisia ※2 But it will be performed. He continued to look for opportunities to perform overseas when the COVID-19 pandemic began. When Watanabe proposed a joint production of Terra with a Thai director, hoping to travel there again, the director unexpectedly offered to do it himself. This offer was not a request for permission for a normal performance, but was based on the interpretation of the Thai artists on the premise that the performance would be performed in a Thai temple, and from this came the concept of "a work traveling instead of a person."
During the online period, Terazia actively used online meetings to deepen ties with overseas artists and expand its circle of activities. Because it was difficult for people involved in theater to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, the script and video of the work will be shared, and participating artists will boldly remake it to fit the local social context. It is said that the Japanese members had little influence over the creative activities in each region. "In addition to performing in various locations, they also created small festival-like opportunities to present their research using online platforms." says Watanabe.
*1 Festival/Tokyo ・・・ Festival/Tokyo is one of the largest performing arts festivals in Japan, held mainly at the Tokyo Art Theater and other cultural centers in the Ikebukuro area. Held 13 times between 2009 and 2020, the festival attracted a great deal of attention for its cutting-edge lineup and participatory programs unique to the festival, and was held as an international performing arts festival representing Tokyo, Japan, and Asia.
* 2 Carthage Theatre Festival ・・・ An international theatre festival held in Tunisia. It has become a platform for artists and troupes to present their works, exchange ideas and celebrate the art of theatre. The festival offers a wide range of programs including theatrical productions, performances, workshops and discussions.
Online to Onsite
As the pandemic forced online interaction, Dingdon W.S., a Terazia participant from Indonesia, had a clear vision for the post-pandemic period. "By 2023, the COVID-19 pandemic would have subsided, so we talked about holding the Terazia summit in Indonesia." Watanabe said. His remarks about the onsite period were important for the members of Terazia to continue their activities during the online period and to look to the future.
In 2022, the members of Terazia met in Indonesia. This is the beginning of the onsite phase. In Indonesia, we visited Teater Kubur(Theatre Kubur, Graveyard Theatre) hosted by Dingdong W.S., one of the members of Terazia, and had face-to-face discussions with members who had been communicating online. Meeting them in person led to an explosion of ideas for what they wanted to do, which led to an online week. The virtual week also coincided with in-person events in Yangon, Chiang Mai, Jakarta and Tokyo. "Up until now, those of us in Japan who had been doing the original "Terra" had often given presentations on what "Terra" was and what "Terrasia" was. However, through this Terazia Online Week 2022 and on-site events, we were able to introduce the form of "Terazia" that each of us has in mind to each of our customers in each place." Watanabe said. Since then, in-person events have been ramped up in each region. The art festival Sua TERASIA (Episode 1, Episode 2), which was held in 2 parts in January 2024 and January 2025, gathers the artists who participated in TERASIA, is the crystallization of the activities of TERASIA since the online period. "At the end of the project, there was a megalithic site called Gunung Padang, and we all climbed up there on a full moon night and spent the night together. As a matter of fact, this was also a blueprint that Mr. Dingdon had been drawing since around 2020 or 21. We shared this experience, and it was the end of a period of quarantine collaboration." Watanabe said.
Long-term grants and the transformation of works
During the three-year grant period, the project will undergo dynamic changes. Inatsugu, an early participant in the project, reflected on two aspects of how important long-term funding was to him as an actor. First of all, the point of view is that there is a place to return to. "If you develop a project over a long period of time, you can come back even if you leave once due to a life event such as childbirth. Once an actor leaves the scene, it's not easy to go back, so it was great that there was a place to go back to, and that place was made by people who shared a common language." he said. He was also greatly inspired by his character Mitsuko KYOGOKU from overseas production companies. "The characters were reinvented to the point of being completely different in the new interpretation. But it was my first experience of how to create a new version of what I had done, looking at what I had obviously done." said Inatsugu.
長期にわたる国際的な創作の場は、稲継をはじめ、参加者一人一人にとっても重要な影響を残したようだ。
参考：テラジア 隔離の時代を旅する演劇：https://terasia.net/
(Composition and text: Shunichiro OKA)
Profile
discus group
Started in 2018 as a theatrical project to create "time for multiple writers and artists to be flat together, where they should be". They consider everything they experience from the time they visit a theater to the time they return home as "theater," and they are developing activities that are not limited to just presenting performances, such as publishing booklets and holding various events. In 2021, she established a communal studio called "The Place to Ride the Discus" to explore new connections related to expression. His recent works include (2024: Tokyo Art Festival 2024 Program). The current members are Kageyama Meteorological Observatory (playwright/director), Hiwari-Geta (actor), Shun Hatakeyama (actor) and Suzu Shibuki (advisor/watcher).
UPN Limited Liability Company
It is a corporation formed by Sakata Yukari (director) and Watanabe Maho (drama turku, interpreter and translator), who have been working as freelancers, to conduct cross-disciplinary cultural and artistic business. They are engaged in activities that are not limited to their own fields, such as planning and management of art events, production of works, editing and publishing.