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Updated: Mar. 27, 2023

22nd AAF Drama Award Grand Prize goes to Toride by Yutaro Murakoso

The AAF Drama Award is organized by the Aichi Prefectural Arts Theater (Public Interest Incorpo-rated Foundation Aichi Arts Foundation). The Award was established in 2000 as a new drama award for the 21st century, taking the form of a “Drama Award with the intention of staging performances,” meaning that plans are made for performances of the winning works to be staged at the Small Hall of the Aichi Prefectural Arts Theater the following year or later, and in 2015, the Award underwent a re-newal at the time of its 15th holding under the theme of “What is Drama?” and with the ongoing pur-pose of creating places for encounters with new values. For this, the 22nd holding of the Award, 91 plays were submitted as applicants and five finalists are selected through primary and secondary judg-ing sessions on January 28 (Sat.), 2023 through open judging. The winner of the Grand Prize was Toride (Fortress) by Yutaro Murakoso, the leader of the theater company Shimbunka. The Special Prize went to Shufuku ten P by Megumi Kawabe and Hatsunetsu By-pass by Naruaki Ohmi.

The Grand Prize winner Yutaro Murakoso has been the leader of the theater company Shimbunka since 2014. In the Toga Engekijin Concours 2018 theater contest, he won the Encouragement Prize (for directing Kishida Kunio’s Okujo Teien (Roof Garden)), and in 2019 he was award-ed a Saison Culture Foundation Fellowship. Murakoso also served as the first Associate Artist at Theatre E9 Kyoto (2020 to 2022). The Prize winners and this year’s judges are listed below.

Grand Prize
Toride (Fortress) by Yutaro Murakoso
Special Prize:
Shufuku ten P by Megumi Kawabe
Hatsunetsu Bypass by Naruaki Ohmi

Judges:
Teita Iwabuchi (Dancer, choreographer)
Minori Suzuki (Author, writer)
Hiromi Tateyama (Director, Nigrinoda leader, Miyazaki Prefectural Arts Theater Director)
Kohei Narumi (Director, Daishichi Gekijo representative, Théâtre de Belleville Artistic Director)
Shirotama Hitsujiya (Director, playwright, actor, “Yubiwa Hotel Artistic Director, social worker)

AAF Drama Award
https://www-stage.aac.pref.aichi.jp/event/aaf/index.html

KYOTO CHOREOGRAPHY AWARD 2022 held, winners decided

The KYOTO CHOREOGRAPHY AWARD (sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs and NPO Japan Contemporary Dance Network [JCDN]) was established in 2020 as a new program of the Contemporary Dance Choreographer Development Project “Dance it is!!” It was held over the two days of, January 28 (Sat.) and January 29 (Sun.) 2023. The award is intended to provide choreographers a positive step toward their next activities, and to give them opportunities for the presentation of the work and subsequent awards. And another feature of the program is the holding of discussions with the audience about the works presented. For this, the second holding of the Award, six groups were selected through document screening from a total of 39 applicants, and they performed their works in Kyoto. After the performances of three groups on each on the two days, an audience discussion time was held, and the performances and discussions were also streamed online.

As a result of the post-performance judging, the KCA Kyoto Prize was awarded to Kana Ikegaya and Kohei Fujimura’s Taisho a (Object a) and Yoko Omori’s Help. The KCA Encouragement Award went to Reina Okada and Yu Kuroda/Null for the work Own Own. Omori’s Help also won the Audience Award, which is decided through voting by the audience, as well as online viewers. The Best Dancer Award went to Kana Ikegaya. In addition, the Golden 4422 AIR Award was awarded to Aokid × Takumi-chan’s HUMAN/human. The winners and this year's jury members are as follows:

KCA Kyoto Prize
Kana Ikegaya, Kohei Fujimura, Taisho a (Object a)
Yoko Omori, Help
KCA Encouragement Award
Rena Okada, Isamu Kuroda / Null Own Own
Audience Award
Yoko Omori Help
Best Dancer Award
Kana Ikegaya [in Kana Ikegaya, Kohei Fujimura, Taisho a (Object a)]
Gold 4422 AIR Award
Aokid × Takumi-chan, HUMAN/human

Award Jury:
Tatsuro Ishii (Dance Critic)
Eri Karatsu (Executive Producer of Aichi Arts Theatre, Artistic Director of Dance Base Yokohama)
Ikuyo Kuroda (Choreographer, dancer, director of BATIK)
Tadasu Takamine (Director, Visual Artist, Professor at Tama Art University)
Misako Terada (Dancer, Choreographer)
Saori Mikami (Producer of Setagaya Public Theater, Department of Planning and Production)
Meruro Washida (Director of Towada Art Center)
*Kogane 4422 AIR Award Judge: Nobuyoshi Asai (Choreographer, Dancer, Director of Dance House Kogane 4422)

KYOTO CHOREOGRAPHY AWARD
https://choreographers.jcdn.org/program/kyotochoreographyaward2022

The 67th Kishida Kunio Drama Award, Finalists Decided

The finalists for the 67th Kishida Kunio Drama Award, sponsored by Hakusuisha, have been announced. The following nine works have been selected as finalists, and final awards will be decided on Friday, March 17, 2023. From this fiscal year, the Award will be supported by the Hitotsubashi Sogo Foundation, a public interest incorporated foundation, and it will participate under the designation: “Sponsored by Hakusuisha and supported by the Hitotsubashi Sogo Foundation.”

Finalists works:
Nen Ishihara’s Kanojo tachi no Danmen (Fragments of Girls) (one of three stories in: Yume o miru Sei o meguru Mittsu no monogatari (Dreaming, Three Stories Involving Sex), ajuma Books)
Kumiko Ueda’s Biome (stage script)
Takuya Kato’s Dodo ga rakka suru (The Dodo Falls) (stage script)
Sugatsu Kanayama’s Pachinko (Ue) (Pinball (top)) (stage script)
Takuya Kaneshima’s Rycom de mattoku (Backyard in Rycom) (published in the January 2023 issue of Tragic Comedy)
Junya Kamata’s Katatoki (A moment) (stage script)
Shiori Nakajima’s Kusuri o moraini iku Kusuri (Medicine Going to Get Medicine) (stage script)
Yu Harada’s Bun, Bun, Ibun (Sentence, Minute, Strange tale) (stage script)
Shoko Matsumura’s Kakkyu (crave) (series of Inunosenakaza publications)

Selection Committee:
Ryo Iwamatsu, Toshiki Okada, Keralino Sandorović, Hideki Noda, Yukiko Motoya, Mikuni Yanaihara

Kishida Kunio Drama Award
http://www.hakusuisha.co.jp/kishida/

"Yokohama Dance Collection 2022" Competition winning choreographers decided

Started in 1996 as a Japan platform for global choreographic competitions, the winners of the 28th Yokohama Dance Collection competition have been decided. This year, a total of 121 groups from 14 countries and regions applied, and the 17 finalists who passed the video and document screening were judged from December 1st to 4th, 2022. Finalists from overseas, who had been forced to participate via video due to the COVID-19 pandemic, did not participate via video this year, but participated live in the performance judging at the venue in Yokohama.

In Competition I, the winners of each prize were divided. First of all, the Jury Prize, which is equiva-lent to the grand prize, was awarded to Taiwan's Liu I-Ling's ... and, or.... Balance by Ayaka Ono and Akira Nakazawa, also known as the performing arts collective “Spacenotblank,” won the French Embassy Prize for Young Choreographers - Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Prize, and the Kinosaki International Arts Center Prize. So-PAN by Fairul Zahid ❬LASALLE Dance❭ of Singapore won the MASDANZA Prize, while Fuko Ikegami and Takara Nakamura’s Puppenhaus and Kenji Shinohe’s ORGARHYTHM won the Architanz Artist Support Prize. The Encouragement Prize went to Kenji Shinohe’s ORGARHYTHM and Emi Ogura’s M2.

The Best Newcomer Prize in Competition II (New Choreographer Category) went to Yusuke Mi-ya’s Shape. The winners and this year's judges are as follows: For details, please refer to the Yokohama Dance Collection website.

Competition I (Artwork Division):
[Jury Prize]
Liu I-Ling ... and, or...
[French Embassy Prize for Young Choreographers, Dance Reflection Tin by Van Cleef & Arpels Prize, Kinosaki International Arts Center (KIAC) Prize]
Ayaka Ono / Akira Nakazawa Balance
[MASDANZA Prize]
Fairul Zahid ❬LASALLE Dance❭ (Singapore) So-PAN
[Architanz Artist Support Award]
Fuko Ikegami / Takara Nakamura Doll House
Kenji Shinohe ORGARHYTHM
[Encouragement Prize]
Kenji Shinohe ORGARHYTHM
Emi Ogura M2

Competition I Jury:
Hiroaki Umeda (Choreographer, Dancer, Visual artist, Choreographer)
Sae Okami (Dance Critic, Associate Professor of Kyoritsu Women’s University)
Akiko Kitamura(Choreographer, Dancer, Associate Professor of Shinshu University)
Ryohei Kondo (Director of CONDORS, Choreographer, Dancer, Saitama Arts Theater Artistic Di-rector)
Junnosuke Tada (Director, Artistic Director of TOKYO DEATHLOCK)
Fumio Hamano (Senior Editor, Shinshokan Dance Magazine)
Samson Sylvain (Cultural attaché of the French Embassy)
Simon Horrenberger (Director of the French Institute of Japan-Yokohama)
Catherine Tsekenis (Executive Director, CN D Centre National de la Danse
Serge Laurent (Van Cleef & Arpels Director of Dance and Culture Program)
*The MASDANZA Prize, Kinosaki International Arts Center (KIAC) Prize, and Architanz Artist Support Prize were judged by representatives of each organization.

Competition II (New Choreographer Division):
[Best Newcomer Prize]
Yusuke Miya Shape
[Architanz Artist Support Prize]
Hiyori Yasunaga abukunooto
[Encouragement Prize]
Kenichi Saito Rotary Production
[Best Dancer Prize]
Reina Miwa shimaikata

Competition II Jury:
Vivienne Sato (Artist)
Yumina Kato (Director, Steep Slope Studio)
Wataru Kitao (Director, Baobab, Choreographer, Dancer)
Fumio Hamano (Senior Editor, Shinshokan Dance Magazine)

Yokohama Dance Collection
https://yokohama-dance-collection.jp/en/

The 29th OMS Drama Award Grand Prize goes to Tatsushi Yamawaki’s Watashi no koe ga kikoemasuka (Can You Hear My Voice?)

The OMS Drama Award is sponsored by Osaka Gas and is given to playwrights active mainly in the Kansai region (South-western half of Japan, including Osaka) of Japan. Launched in 1994, this year marks the 29th holding of the award. In addition to discovering playwrights who will lead the next generation in Kansai, it also seeks to be a platform to help established playwrights who have won awards in the past expand their activities nationwide. Since the previous holding (28th), it has been possible to apply with works that have not yet been performed, and as a result of the final selection from 41 entries, Tatsushi Yamawaki’s Watashi no koe ga kikoemasuka (Can You Hear My Voice?) was selected for the Grand Prize.

Yamawaki was born in 1962 and is a member of the Kyoto-based theater company Ashita no Kai, a group of deaf people and people with hearing disabilities. The award-winning work is an unperformed play in which an elderly couple reminisces about the story of their deaf daughter’s marriage. In addition the winner of the OMS Honorable Mention award for the play Ikiterumi (A Living Body) by Kapi Shido, who is active in another Kyoto-based company Anju no Chi (an artist group with a focus on theater making use of mixed media).

Finalists:
Masaya Kitamoto: Wareware wa tokukara kita, soshite toku e ikunoda (We have come from afar, and we will go far again)
Kiichi Kondo: Bus Stop
Nozomi Saegusa: Kamome gokko (Kagome Game)
Shido Kapi: Ikiterumi (A living body)
Tsuyoshi Tanabe: Toumei na Yagi (Transparent Goat)
Atsushi Tsuchihashi: Sono Aida ni Arumono (What is in between)
Tatsushi Yamawaki: Watashi no Koe ga Kikoemasuka (Can you hear me?)

Judges:
Makoto Satoh (playwright)
Yumi Suzuki (director)
Norihiko Tsukuda (playwright)
Hideo Tsuchida (playwright)
Miyu Higuchi (playwright)

The OMS Drama Award
http://www.ogbc.co.jp/oms/