Shuntaro Matsubara

Shuntaro Matsubara

Born in 1988, Matsubara is a novelist and playwright. He graduated from the Economics Department of Kobe University. After encountering the works of Samuel Beckett and James Joyce, he began writing novels. He then encountered theater upon seeing theater company Chiten’s production of Fatzer, and subsequently released his own first play titled Michiyuki in 2015. That play won the Grand Prize at the 15th AAF Drama Awards. Matsubara has become known for his unique style characterized by long texts filled with powerful words and a narrative style in which the voices of the characters intermingle and eventually fail to come together into a single coherent storyline. In 2017, Matsubara released Wasureru Nihonjin (The Japanese, Who Forget) in a joint production with Kanagawa Arts Theatre (KAAT) (stage composition by Chiten). With its theme of “oblivion,” the play was highly acclaimed as a statement of poignant critique of Japanese society and the mentality of the Japanese after repeated earthquake disasters, noting their expression of fond attention to the dead. In 2018, Matsubara’s play YAMAYAMA (I Would Prefer Not to) also produced as a collaboration with Chiten and KAAT, was the winner of the 63rd Kishida Drama Award.