Noda Manabu    Department   Undergraduate School  , School of Arts and Letters    Position   Professor
Date	2006/10/29
Presentation Theme	Drama in Japan: Local Development and Western Influence
Conference	International Symposium on Arts Criticism 2006 (October 27-30)
Promoters	International Association of Theatre Critics, Hong Kong
Conference Type	International
Presentation Type	Speech (General)
Contribution Type	Individual
Invited	Invited
Venue	Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre
Details	Many Japanese theatre pieces in the 2010s now focus on a certain type of physicality which results from the sense of unease in Japanese society. The senses of estrangement, distrust, apathy, helplessness, and incongruity in this supposedly democratic country come partly from the macho pressures under the right-wing Koizumi administration of 2001--06. The paper examines some current Japanese performances in the context of Japanese post-war society and of the continuing conflict in Iraq, and then explores how these performances stage the body ill at ease -- perceived as something irrevocably "left behind" physically rather than textually.