Japan ranks 116 out of 146 countries in terms of the gender gap. This work depicts the reality of this situation in a caricature-like way through light-hearted conversational drama and a J-horror sensibility.
Through a tale of revenge about a girl (Fukui Natsu) who becomes a “miko” shrine maiden for a cult group and is subsequently sexually assaulted and killed,
the work exposes the asymmetry between misogyny and misandry, and harshly criticizes “womb worship” and other modes of objectifying women by linking their “power to give birth” with divinity. Ueno Tetsutaro, Kawamura Mizuki, Suzuki Ayano and others gave excellent performances as people living in a hell invisible to the majority due to gender stereotypes that persist in Japanese society. There were also extraordinary performances from Hayashi Chie, who played a stressed wife who turns to spirituality over pressure to get pregnant, and Kawasumi Nahoko as the cult leader who welcomes her into a bottomless mire of faith. Sato Hideyuki and Kannami Mado give nuanced performances as seemingly “good husbands” who spend their lives putting others through hell. Set design by Ito Suzuran, sound by Shomi Sakurauchi, and lighting by Ogata Toshiki, bring a convincing note to the staging of this work, which featured many consecutive scene changes.