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Bungakuza is a Japanese theatre company. It, along with the Haiyūza Theatre Company and the Mingei Theatre Company, stages Shingeki.
The company was founded by Kunio Kishida, Mantarō Kubota and Bunroku Shishi on September 6, 1937. On March 25, 1938, the company staged its first public performances with "Migotona Onna", "Wagaya no Heiwa" and "Kunokkusu". Shingeki, literally "New drama”, was the Japanese retelling of Western realist theatre during the late 19th century through to the early 20th century. Retellings included the works of Western writers such as Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, Maxim Gorky, and Eugene O'Neill, and reflected the styles of Russian proscenium theatre.
Kunio Kishida was one of the most prominent Japanese dramatist and writer of the early 20th century and is regarded as one of the founders of modern Japanese drama.
He served in the army but, with aspirations of studying literature, entered the Tokyo Imperial University to study French literature and modern drama. In 1920, he went to Paris and studied the history of French drama. After returning to Japan, he wrote dramas and novels and, in 1937, founded the Literature Theatre Company (Bungaku-za), which produced many famous actors and actresses, including his daughter, Kyōko Kishida. His name is prefixed to the most famous prize for drama in Japan, the annual Kunio Kishida Award (Kishida Kunio Gikyoku-shô).
THE TEAM
Acting members
Tōru Emori, Yasuyoshi Hara, Takashi Hirota, Masao Imafuku, Tomohiko Imai, Takeshi Ishikawa, Takuzō Kadono, Takeshi Katō, Kyūzō Kawabe, Katsuya Kobayashi, Takayuki Morita, Manabu Muraji, Akio Nakamura
Hideki Oshikiri, Shirō Saitō, Fumiaki Sakabe, Yoshisada Sakaguchi, Jun Satō,Akihiko Shimizu, Takayuki Sugō, Hiroshi Takahashi, Kōjirō Takahashi, Taka Takao, Katsuhiko Tamura, Masaaki Uchino, Hideyuki Uzawa, Tōru Watanabe, Kazuko Inano, Noriko Kitō, Akiko Kurano, Junko Mashina, Izumi Matsuoka, Mina Meguro, Kakuko Motoyama, Hiroe Oka, Yōko Ono, Mayumi Sako, Taiko Shinbashi, Tomoko Shiota, Yoshie Taira, Michie Terada, Masako Yagi, Rina Yamada, Kaori Yamagata, Ikuko Yamamoto, Michiko Yamamoto, Miki Yamazaki, Mayuno Yasokawa.
Production members
Ichirō Inui, Hitoshi Uyama.
http://blog.livedoor.jp/bungakuza/
http://www.facebook.com/bungakuza
Here are few videos reflect some of their work.