Have you ever experienced Japan’s underground theater? Part of Japan’s performance art culture, the underground theater has a history of around 60 years. We bring you its allure in a two-part mini documentary, following a Japanese artist who performed as part of a tent theater that made an appearance at a shrine in Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood.
The lead is Yasuda Shota, a member of a boys group SUPER EIGHT and an actor. It’s uncommon for an idol to challenge themselves on the stage of an underground tent theater. We filmed the behind-the-scenes journey of Yasuda’s first day of rehearsal to opening night over the course of about two months.
Yasuda joined the Shinjuku Ryozanpaku troupe, led by director and actor Kim Sujin, a company dedicated to preserving and developing the traditions of underground theater. He performed in two back-to-back plays from the early works of underground theater master Kara Juro: AliBaba and Ai no Kojiki(The Beggar of Love). These works are regarded as masterpieces that, amid fantasy and romance, sharply depicted Japanese society of those times. Yasuda said he took to the stage with a deep love for Kara Juro’s work and a strong commitment to carrying this culture into the future. The tent theater is built, performed in, and dismantled entirely by the actors themselves. The process is considered a fleeting existence likened to a dreamlike fantasy. If you have the chance to visit Japan, check out the tent theater when it makes an appearance at a shrine. It may become a whole new encounter with Japanese culture.
This was originally on-aired in news every. in July, 2025.
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