Tiffany Foundation Award for the Preservation of Japanese Traditional Arts and Culture in Contemporary Society

Shinkosho Award

Nishi-shiogo Revolving Theater Preservation Committee
Nishishiogo no mawari butai hozonkai

• Location: Hitachi-Omiya City, Ibaraki Prefecture
• Date of Establishment: 1994

Kabuki, one of Japan’s most famous and distinctive traditional forms of theater, originated in the early 17th Century, and quickly spread through out the country. Village style kabuki theaters were built in the countryside, and while many of these were permanent constructions, some were temporarily built on farmland when local people invited performers from other towns and were dismantled after several performances. Nishi-shiogo’s mawari butai, or “revolving theater,” is said to be one of the oldest theaters of this type.

The majority of these theaters were destroyed or disappeared during and after World War II but, in 1997, after a half-century of no performances, the tradition of temporarily building a village style kabuki theater, was revived in Nishi-shiogo and a company specializing in the local form of kabuki was formed. Local craftsmen and volunteers constructed a large theater using traditional techniques and materials, and utilizing specialized stage parts that had been stored away since the last temporary theater was dismantled decades earlier. The theater, which measures 20 meters wide and stands 7 meters tall, was constructed out of lumber with 300 bamboo poles for the arched roof, following the techniques that have been used in Nishi-shiogo for the past two centuries.

Every three years since, more than 100 local residents have taken part in the month long process of rebuilding the theater for a series of performances. This is done according to the historic specifications and using traditional techniques. (An 1820 book has been discovered with records of the tools used for the construction of this theater.) It is built with a revolving stage, which can be set for several scenes and rotates to allow the scenes to change in the view of the audience. Portions of the stage have been preserved over the years and are used each time the stage is built, including impressive traditional carvings on the platform for the musicians, decorated sliding doors or fusuma, and large ornate stage curtain. The way in which local residents replaced the elaborate curtain that had been used since the 1820s with a new one in 2006 demonstrates the meticulous care and attention to detail that goes into this. They began by growing cotton for the curtain, then they weaved this by hand using traditional techniques and arranging for it to be dyed and decorated in the traditional manner, a process that took five years.

In addition to staging performances, the committee works to preserve the tradition of local kabuki by teaching local school children kabuki, and by involving large number of volunteers from the town’s high school as well as area college students in the process of building the theater and staging the performances.