Boys Group SUPER EIGHT Yasuda Shota’s challenge: Tent Theater of Kara Juro, Behind the scenes PART 2
On June 10th, just 4 days before opening night, the tent was constructed despite the rain. [Music] Actors and crew worked side by side. Among them was Yasuda helping set up the tent while getting soaked. They hoisted the canvas over the frame, carried in sets and equipment. [Applause] And in just 7 hours, a tent had been built on what was previously empty shrine grounds. [Applause] [Music] Yasudo worked every day on setting up the stage. From arranging the seats to making a scenery look weathered. Always finding something to help out. He had become truly part of the team. Then came the opening day. From morning, Yasuda and the others were busy with final preparations. There’s work to do until the last minute. The completed stage appeared to be within reach of the audience. This was an hour before the show. Actors handled everything, including ushering spectators and tearing off their tickets. Meanwhile, Yasuda had put on his costume and makeup and was concentrating as he waited for the time of his stage appearance. The first piece, Alibaba, begins. In the first scene where Yataroku chases a horse with a long monologue, Yasuda captivated the audience. [Music] Then came the adlibbed part that Yasuda had added. Then the crowd naturally became one. [Music] After Alibaba, during the 15-minute intermission, the actors still in costumes quickly swapped the sets and props and the second stage began. This one was a story set in a city’s public toilet, leaping time and space. Yasida plays a dual role, a timid office worker and a legendary military police officer living in wartime Manuria. [Music] There are scenes that make use of the proximity of the audience. Then comes the grand finale with a stage opening in a hallmark unique to the tent theater. As the rear curtain opens, a massive ship appears from outside the tent. Then the performance running nearly 2 hours and 40 minutes ends. [Music] In autumn 2025, Yasida, originally from Kobo Prefecture, will take on these two plays entirely in Kungai Ben dialect from his hometown region. [Music] We [Music]
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.
▼Click here to watch PART 1 :
READ the latest news and full transcript on https://www.ntv.co.jp/englishnews/
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