YPAM

My Neighbor

Onoma Riko / Shukou

When does a “Japanese” person begin to FEEL Japanese?

• Japan
• Theatre
• World Premiere

My “neighbors” are Japanese. They were born to Japanese parents and raised in Japan. They are Japanese with no roots overseas. These are the people who live beside me. I often struggle to find the right words to talk about “them.” They're good people. Some of them are close friends of mine. And yet, perhaps because there are simply so many of them in this country, I sometimes feel a subtle difficulty in speaking freely. I sense an unspoken atmosphere that makes it hard for me to say: “My parents were not originally Japanese.” So I observe them. I observe where and how this atmosphere is being cultivated. At what point, I wonder, did they decide that I am “one of them”? Shukou's latest production is a new theatrical work that aims to bring the idea of “Japanese identity” into focus through the everyday lives of Japanese-speaking people living in Japan. Drawing on the personal documentary of Onoma, who has roots in Taiwan, and accompanied by food (cooking), sound, and spatial design, the performance creates space to reflect on the question: What does it mean to be Japanese?