Performing Artists’ Voices Remain Unheard:
Performing Artists’ Voices Remain Unheard:

Theater Productions and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan

Author(s): Annegret Bergmann
Subject(s): Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts, Health and medicine and law, Sociology of Culture, Sociology of the arts, business, education, Social Norms / Social Control
Published by: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci
Keywords: Japanese theater production; opera; kabuki; COVID-19 pandemic; Japanese culture policy;
Summary/Abstract: This article elucidates the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on performing art productions and the insufficiency of financial assistance programs from the government during the first months of the pandemic 2020 in Japan. By taking an opera production and kabuki productions as examples, the reactions of the management of Biwako Hall and the commercial theater production company Shōchiku to the pandemic crisis are described; how they implemented innovative and new production measures and incorporated digital tools to compensate for financial losses, as well as to retain their old audience and attract new audience. It becomes clear how insignificant the Japanese government perceives the performing arts and how little public financial support they receive. Furthermore, the indispensable role that corporate support and commercial production companies play in theater productions in Japan is illuminated.

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