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Koharu Kisaragi

Japanese writer (1956–2000) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Koharu Kisaragi (Japanese: 如月小春; February 19, 1956 – December 19, 2000) was a Japanese playwright, director, and essayist. The founder of the theater company NOISE, she worked as a playwright and director starting in the late 1970s, becoming, alongside Hideki Noda and Eri Watanabe, one of the leaders of the Third Generation [ja] of Japanese small theater [ja].[1] She had a lasting influence on contemporary Japanese women's theater.[2]

Kisaragi was also a prolific essayist and appeared on television as a host and commentator. She served as the founding chair of the Asian Women's Theater Conference, as a member of UNESCO's Japanese National Commission, and as an instructor at Rikkyo University.

Early life and education

Masako Ito (Japanese: 伊藤正子) was born in Suginami, Tokyo, in 1956.[3][4][5][6] She later became Masako Kajiya (Japanese: 楫屋正子) after her marriage, but she is best known by her pen name Koharu Kisaragi.

Kisaragi attended middle and high school at Seikei Junior and Senior High School [ja] in Musashino. She also studied at Cowra High School in New South Wales, Australia, through an exchange program with her high school.[4] Beginning in 1974, she studied philosophy at Tokyo Woman's Christian University.[1][4][5]

Career

While in college, Kisaragi became involved in theater, co-founding the University of Tokyo-affiliated intercollegiate theatrical troupe Kiki (Japanese: 綺畸).[3][5][6] In 1976, she published her first play, Ryusei Ingakan (Japanese: 流星陰画館).[5] She then wrote and directed the plays Romeo and Freesia at the Dining Table (Japanese: ロミオとフリージアのある食卓; 1979), ANOTHER (1981), and Factory Story (Japanese: 工場物語, 1982).[6] She worked in the same theater company as Akiko Takeuchi [ja], Masumi Takikawa, and Shunya Yoshimi.[7]

In addition to her work in the theater, after graduating college, she spent a year in an office job, then taught at a juku.[3]

After leaving the Kiki troupe in 1982, that fall she put on the show Photosynthesis Party (Japanese: 光合成Party) with her husband, Kazuyuki Kajiya.[1][5][6] In 1983, she founded her own theater company, NOISE, with whom she staged such productions as DOLL (1983) and MORAL (1984–1986).[1][3][5] Kisaragi's plays frequently dealt with the realities of urban life and included meta-commentary on the act of creating theater.[6][8] These performances often combined traditional theater with other media, such as music and film.[1][9]

NOISE had around 30 members, led by Kisaragi as its primary playwright and director, and it was described in the media as an "urbanite theater group."[4][10] It disbanded in 1994, although Kisaragi continued to produce occasional performances with former members of the group, including her husband.[6]

In 1988, she represented Japan at the first International Women Playwrights Conference in Buffalo, New York.[1] Beginning in 1991, she held a series of theater workshops at the Hyogo Children's Museum [ja].[1][6] In 1992, she was chosen as chair of the inaugural Asian Women's Theater Conference.[1][6][11]

Death

In 2000, Kisaragi was hospitalized after losing consciousness in a classroom at Rikkyo University. She died less than two weeks later, of a subarachnoid hemorrhage, at age 44.[1][5] She left her husband and one daughter, as well as a vast but incomplete body of work.[6]

She had been scheduled to chair the following year's Asian Women's Theater Conference, which Rio Kishida did in her place.[1][2]

Selected works

Staged plays

  • 流星陰画館 ― 星影の残酷メルヘン
  • 新御伽草子'79 ― 雪の小石川編
  • ロミオとフリージアのある食卓 ― 悲恋中野区編
  • 光の時代
  • 家、世の果ての... ― 怪談・武蔵野編
  • ANOTHER
  • 工場物語
  • Art Collection 1 ― 光合成Party
  • DOLL
  • リア王の青い城
  • トロイメライ ― 子供の情景
  • MORAL
  • Art Collection 4 ― Dancing Voice
  • MORAL 2nd
  • ISLAND
  • SAMSA
  • 砂漠のように、やさしく
  • NIPPON CHA! CHA! CHA!
  • MOON
  • ESCAPE
  • 夏の夜のアリスたち
  • 夜の学校
  • A・R ― 芥川龍之介素描
  • 月夜のサンタマリア
  • 朝、冷たい水で
  • モホイの涙
  • テン、テン、天まで飛んでいけ

Television

  • 日本語再発見
  • 週刊ブックレビュー
  • スタジオL 木曜日

Radio

  • 坂本龍一と如月小春のラジオパフォーマンス「LIFE」(1984)

Music

Publications

Plays and collections

  • 如月小春戯曲集』(1982)
  • 『工場物語』(1983)
  • 『如月小春のしばい』(1984)
  • 『DOLL』(1985)
  • 『MORAL』(1987)
  • 『NIPPON・CHA!CHA!CHA!』(1988)
  • 『DOLL/トロイメライ』(1993)
  • 『DOLL/トロイメライ』(2001)
  • 『如月小春精選戯曲集』(2001)
  • 『DOLL - 如月小春が遺した美しい7つの物語 如月小春精選戯曲集2』(2017)

Essays, criticism, and interviews

  • 如月小春のフィールドノート』(1984)
  • 『はな子さん、いってらっしゃい - 如月小春Tokiology live』(1984)
  • 『都市の遊び方』(1986)
  • 『私の耳は都市の耳』(1986)
  • 『都市民族の芝居小屋』(1987)
  • 『鏡の中の人間 - 如月小春サイエンス・インタヴュー集』(1988)
  • 『はな子さんの文学探検』(1988)
  • 『東京ガール』(1989)
  • 『もう一人の、私』(1995)
  • 『八月のこどもたち - 劇団NOISE・91夏・ワークショップの記録』(1996)
  • 『ピーヒャラドンの謎 - 演出家がハハになった』(1999)
  • 『俳優の領分 - 中村伸郎と昭和の劇作家たち』(2006)

Novels

  • 『子規からの手紙』(1993)

References

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