Updated on 2026/03/07

Organization
Undergraduate School School of Global Japanese Studies Professor
Title
Professor
External link

Degree

  • PhD ( 2017.2   Waseda University )

Research Interests

  • direction, staging

  • Japanese theater

  • German theater

  • documentary theater

Research Areas

  • Humanities & social sciences / Aesthetics and art studies

Education

  • The University of Tokyo   Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

    1996.4 - 2005.3

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    Country/Region： Japan

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  • Keio University   Faculty of Letters

    1991.4 - 1996.3

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    Country/Region： Japan

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Research History

  • Meiji University   School of Global Japanese Studies   Professor

    2016.4

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  • Meiji University   School of Global Japanese Studies   Associate Professor

    2013.4 - 2016.3

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  • Meiji University   School of Global Japanese Studies   Assistant Professor

    2008.4 - 2013.3

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  • The Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum Waseda University   Research Associate

    2005 - 2008

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    Country/Region：Japan

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Professional Memberships

Committee Memberships

  • EAJS2023, the 17th International Conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS)   Section Convenor (Performing Arts Section)  

    2022.9 - 2023.8   

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    Committee type：Academic society

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  • Japanese Society for Theatre Research   Board Member  

    2020.6 - 2023.6   

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    Committee type：Academic society

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  • Japanese Society for Theatre Research, Comparative Theatre Section   Steering committee  

    2013.4   

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    Committee type：Academic society

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  •   Member of the Executive Council / Committee at SIBMAS (2006-2008)  

    2006 - 2008   

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Papers

  • Introduction: The Tsukiji Little Theater Explored from a Broader Perspective or Various Approaches - Translation, Regional Cities, International Exchange, and Postwar

    Ken Hagiwara

    English Journal of JSTR   4 ( 1 )   13 - 20   2025.3

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    Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

    The Tsukiji Little Theater, located in Tokyo, the capital of Japan, was inaugurated in 1924. This theater was the inaugural permanent theater in Japan dedicated to the presentation of shingeki (new theater), which was modeled after Western spoken theater. It was also equipped with a theater company. Previous studies have predominantly regarded the Tsukiji Little Theater as a theater or theater company that staged plays by contemporary Japanese playwrights in Tokyo, and it is believed to have presented the works of prewar Japanese theater artists. However, the Tsukiji Little Theater is noteworthy for its commitment to international theater exchange, evidenced by its presentation of numerous translated plays, its expansion beyond Tokyo to other cities, and its active engagement with theater artists from various countries. This commitment has had a significant impact on the development of Japanese theater in the postwar era. A reexamination of the activities developed at the Tsukiji Little Theater is imperative, one that considers the broader spatial and temporal context.

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  • Actuality and Universality of Reinhard Goering's <i>Seeschlacht</i> (Sea Battle, 1917): An Anti-War Drama Created During a War, Staged in Germany and Japan Reviewed

    Ken Hagiwara

    Memoirs of the Institute of Humanities, Meiji University   91   319 - 341   2024.3

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    Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (bulletin of university, research institution)  

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  • Rethinking the Tsukiji Little Theatre: A “Laboratory of Theatre” Where Diverse Production Principles Intersect Reviewed

    Ken Hagiwara

    Global Japanese Studies Review Meiji University   15 ( 1 )   47 - 59   2023.3

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    Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

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  • Development of Online Theater under the COVID-19 Pandemic: Theater in Revision and Rediscovering Invited

    HAGIWARA Ken

    THEATRE STUDIES Journal of Japanese society for Theatre Research   71   35 - 50   2020.12

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    Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

    DOI： 10.18935/jjstr.71.0_35

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  • Tsukiji Little Theater's Dramaturgy: Regarding German Theater in the Early 20th Century Reviewed

    HAGIWARA Ken

    THEATRE STUDIES Journal of Japanese society for Theatre Research   66 ( 0 )   69 - 85   2018.6

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    Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Japanese Society for Theatre Research  

    <p>Tsukiji Little Theater (TLT) was one origin of the professional dramaturg in Japan. Yoshi Hijikata, one of the founders, studied theater history and direction at Deutsches Theater (DT) in Berlin before TLT was established in 1924 as the first theater building for <i>shingeki</i>, Japanese theater modeled after Western contemporary theater. The model of the building was DT's smaller playhouse, and regarding dramaturgy - as a strategy for the theater to become recognized in society, developed by a staff member called "dramaturg" - was also adopted by TLT, which seems to have practiced that dramaturg function of DT.</p><p>The staff of TLT who took the role of dramaturg worked in the Bungeibu (literary section). They gave proposals and opinions which were taken into account seriously when the dramas were selected, and they advised directors when arrangements of the dramas were required. In addition, they edited brochures to be sold at TLT and bookstores that introduced the dramas and provided pages for opinion exchange with readers/audiences.</p><p>The tasks of today's dramaturgs in Japan are similar to those mentioned above. While TLT's Bungeibu staff struggled against strict censorship - one of the staff, Sakae Kubo, compared the latter role to that of a politician. However, in contemporary Japan, too, dramaturgs should perhaps perform sometimes as a politician because cultural politics by municipal/governmental organizations seem to have become more and more conservative so that (self-) censorship can easily occur.</p>

    DOI： 10.18935/jjstr.66.0_69

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  • ドイツ語文献解題Ａ：ソ連にいたドイツからの亡命者たち―トラー、ヴォルフ、ピスカートア、ライヒ

    萩原健

    早稲田大学演劇映像学連携研究拠点テーマ研究「演劇研究基盤整備：舞台芸術文献の翻訳と公開」   2014.3

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    Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (bulletin of university, research institution)  

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  • The People in the Process of Fermentation—Sorrows of the Contemporary Society Expressed in Christoph MARTHALER's Production <i>Riesenbutzbach</i> Reviewed

    HAGIWARA Ken

    THEATRE STUDIES Journal of Japanese society for Theatre Research   57 ( 0 )   55 - 74   2013

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    Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Japanese Society for Theatre Research  

    <p>Since the 1990s, Swiss theatre director and former stage composer Christoph MARTHALER has been known for his works which use music in a unique form. For each projects, his production team, including a stage designer, a dramaturge and actors/singers/musicians, first discuss particular themes, while eating and drinking for ten days or more. This is the important first phase, which MARTHALER calls "the process of fermentation". This process develops into the practice of a chorus. As MARTHALER's set doesn't have large exits, the performers can easily form a chorus on set. They sing the chorus, sometimes they sing also as solo singers, often with alienations such as laughing and coughing during singing. By using these alienations, MARTHALER caricatures the contemporary people in particular social categories.</p><p>This scheme has also been implemented in MARTHALER's production <i>Riesenbutzbach</i> (2009). However, there was a remarkable difference to MARTHALER's past works. On the set entitled "Institut für Gärungsgewerbe (Institute for fermentation)," the figures say their lines often as monologues which express their state after the Lehman Shock. The caricatured people are representatives of the enormous number of ordinary people after the worldwide financial crisis. In this "Institute for fermentation", the figures could be in the process of vanishing. This reflects probably the anxiety of the ordinary people, including a part of the audience and perhaps also the members of MARTHALER's team.</p>

    DOI： 10.18935/jjstr.57.0_55

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  • The City as Stage, the Audience as Performer: "Tour-Performances" by the performance group Port B in Tokyo Reviewed

    Hagiwara Ken

    Comparative Theater Review   11 ( 1 )   69 - 80   2012

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    Language：English   Publisher：Japanese Society for Theatre Research. Comparative Theatre Section  

    The Japanese performance group Port B, established in 2002 by director Akira Takayama, has often worked on forgotten or unknown aspects of the city of Tokyo without using professional actors, but ordinary people who are related to each theme of the performance. Its early works were performed in theatres or in other buildings, but since 2006, the group has been mainly conducting "tour performances" which do not keep the audiences in a conventional theatre but rather take them outside.<br>Although the history of modern theatre since the beginning of the 20th century includes many examples of performances which have been held outside conventional theatres, Port B's "tour performance" follows a unique approach. The audience, either in small groups or even individually, visits various locations, always following different sources of information. Therefore, it takes part in the same performance at a different time. Each member of the audience is guided to forgotten or unknown places within the city where s/he discovers something, e.g. a new fact, or someone related to the theme of each "tour performance." Moreover, participants are required to talk with group members or those people related to the performance theme in certain places. Port B's works transcend the conventional dualistic theatrical constellation such as stage and audience or performer and audience. The "tour performance" turns the perspective of the audience completely around , while the audience eventually revises her or his own image of the city.<br>The effect of this revision has ever been increased since the project <i>Compartment City Tokyo</i> (2009), because contemporary phenomena of the city of Tokyo are made the subject rather than simply its history. Port B's audience individually watches interviews on DVDs that have been conducted with ordinary people - including children and non-Japanese residents - and is encouraged to talk to some of these people. As a result, s/he gains the impression that s/he is also an element of the city, not as a passive audience member, but as an active performer. Moreover, by using social networking services such as Twitter and Facebook, Port B's recent "tour performance" refer to today's urbanized living conditions in our era of media technology. In this context and in terms of the reversed relationship between performer and audience, Port B's "tour performance" can be called a Brechtian Lehrstück for the 21st century. This treatment of the audience is very original and this is what distinguishes Port B from most current Japanese theatre groups, which make neither its audiences aware of current social and political issues nor encourage them to be proactive as a performer themselves.

    DOI： 10.7141/ctr.11.65

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  • Erwin Piscator's Influence on American Theatre in the 1940's, Focused on Tennessee Williams' Works Reviewed

    HAGIWARA Ken

    THEATRE STUDIES Journal of Japanese society for Theatre Research   52 ( 0 )   27 - 43   2011

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    Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Japanese Society for Theatre Research  

    <p>After working in Berlin in the 1920's, the German theatre director Erwin Piscator went into exile to New York. There he spent the whole 1940's, and worked as a theatre director and director of the school "Dramatic Workshop." His remarkable productions of that time include "War and Peace" (1942) based on Tolstoy's novel and including the role of a narrator and film projections. The aim of these features was to let the audience keep a distance from fictional events: The audience should observe them critically and think about the connection to real events in the contemporary world during the World War II.</p><p>This production surely inspired Tennessee Williams who just studied at the "Dramatic Workshop." He probably watched Piscator's innovative performance and introduced the narrator and film projection for his highly successful piece "Glass Menagerie" (1944).</p><p>But Piscator was not satisfied by Williams' work, because it didn't seem to encourage the audience to a commitment to current political and social struggle. He declared his disappointment which motivated another student: the co-founder of the "Living Theatre", Judith Malina. She pursued Piscator's practice for their productions which directly involved the audience and its real life.</p><p>However, Williams' attempt was influential. He refined the essence of Piscator's and surely contributed to American playwriting.</p>

    DOI： 10.18935/jjstr.52.0_27

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  • On the practice of the Japanese agitprop troupe "Mezamashi-Tai (Alarm Clock Troupe)": a new theatrical approach in opposition to the conventional theatre and its transformation until 1945 Invited

    HAGIWARA Ken

    THEATRE STUDIES Journal of Japanese society for Theatre Research   49 ( 0 )   53 - 73   2009

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    Language：Japanese   Publisher：Japanese Society for Theatre Research  

    <p>Since the mid-1920s, agitprop troupes were established in Japan under the influence of the Russian Revolution and the international socialist movement. Performances took place not only in theatres but also in public spaces such as factory grounds, where the agitprop troupes performed critical social sketches for workers who hardly went to the theatre.</p><p>Among these Japanese agitprop troupes, the "Mezamashi-Tai (Alarm clock troupe)" was especially remarkable. The Japanese actor Koreya Senda, who had studied and worked in an agitprop troupe in Germany from 1927 to 1931, became a troupe member in 1932 and promoted its development according to his experiences in Germany. The performances of the troupe included montages of short dramatic pieces, sprechchor and musical pieces. The troupe also performed in front of regular audiences. Their performances created a new theatrical genre. They were simply constructed and the agitprop effect was preferred to artistic perfection. The Mezamashi-Tai became very popular, but it had to close its operations in 1934 under the pressure of the national security law. Some of its former members worked in governmental theatre organizations until 1945.</p><p>The activities of the "Mezamashi-Tai" have hardly been researched yet because of their political message and of their "non-artistic" form. However, the approach of the Mazamashi-Tai contained elements which in the meantime have become characteristic features of many theatrical performances since the 1970s until today.</p>

    DOI： 10.18935/jjstr.49.0_53

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  • [Research Note] Overflowing Local Bodies in Global Age – (Re)presentations of Japanese Bodies in Different Theatrical Forms Inside and Outside Japan During the Period of (Post-)Globalization – Reviewed

    Comparative Theatre Review   17 ( 1 )   35 - 53   2018

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    Authorship：Corresponding author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Japanese Society for Theatre Research, Comparative Theatre Section  

    DOI： 10.7141/ctr.17.35

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  • 芸術の衣をまとう〈政治演劇〉――演出家エルヴィーン・ピスカートアの亡命期の仕事――

    萩原 健, 萩原 健

    演劇博物館グローバルCOE紀要『演劇映像学2007』   ( 2 )   307 - 319   2008

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  • 戯曲にしばられず、劇場にしばられず -両大戦間期のドイツにおけるアジプロ演劇について

    萩原 健

    演劇研究センター紀要VIII 早稲田大学21世紀COEプログラム 〈演劇の総合的研究と演劇学の確立〉   8 ( 8 )   25 - 30   2007.1

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    Language：Japanese  

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  • 1920・30年代の日本とドイツにおけるアジプロ演劇〜その現代演劇との類縁性について

    萩原 健

    日欧・日亜比較演劇国際研究集会「越境する演劇」   2007

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  • Theatrical production as an event: on the activity of the Japanese Agitprop Troupe "Mezamashi-Tai (Alarm Clock Troupe)": theatre in Japan and Germany in the period between the two world wars (2)

    ( 31 )   13 - 30   2007

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    Language：Japanese  

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  • ヴァンゲンハイム作『鼠落とし』（1931）の制作における千田是也の役割について

    萩原 健

    演劇研究センター紀要VI 早稲田大学21世紀COEプログラム 〈演劇の総合的研究と演劇学の確立〉   6 ( 6 )   235 - 240   2006.1

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  • Social criticism and the influence of theatre speech: productions of Leos Janacek's opera "Katja Kabanova" by Christoph Marthaler and Michael Thalheimer

    ( 30 )   22 - 31   2006

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    Language：Japanese  

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  • 覚醒のための娯楽〜〈劇団1931〉 旗揚げ公演『鼠落とし』の演出(1931)について--両大戦間期の日独演劇(1)

    萩原 健

    演劇研究   ( 29 )   17 - 36   2005

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    Language：Japanese   Publisher：早稲田大学坪内博士記念演劇博物館  

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  • 「上演の日まで〈完成した作品〉というものはない」（ピスカートア） -トラーとピスカートアの共同制作『どっこい、おれたちは生きている！』（1927）

    萩原 健

    演劇研究センター紀要II 早稲田大学21世紀COEプログラム 〈演劇の総合的研究と演劇学の確立〉   2 ( 2 )   163 - 172   2004.1

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Books

  • 越境する革命 : 『吼えろ、中国!』と東アジアの左翼芸術運動 International journal

    村田, 裕和, 越野, 剛, 田村, 容子, 和田, 崇（ Role： Contributor編み合わせのアダプテーション 千田是也と戦間期の日独アジプロ演劇）

    森話社  2025.4  （ ISBN:9784864051897 ）

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    Total pages：407p   Responsible for pages：157-170   Language：Japanese   Book type：Scholarly book

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  • 築地小劇場100年 : 新劇の20世紀

    赤井, 紀美, 熊谷, 知子（ Role： Contributor築地小劇場と表現主義――揺れ動く時代の演劇的共振）

    早稲田大学坪内博士記念演劇博物館  2024.12  （ ISBN:9784948758322 ）

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    Total pages：271p   Responsible for pages：206-213   Language：Japanese  

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  • Royal Bodies - Between Symbol and Reality

    （ Role： ContributorCelebrated "Hittora": On Nazi-salute onstage in post-war Japan）

    2020.9 

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  • 演劇と音楽

    森, 佳子(フランス劇音楽), 奥, 香織, 新沼, 智之, 萩原, 健（ Role： Joint editorハイナー・ゲッベルスの〈ミュージック・シアター〉──聴衆／観客を解放する〈教材〉）

    森話社  2020.6  （ ISBN:9784864051484 ）

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    Total pages：295p   Language：Japanese  

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  • The Routledge companion to theatre and politics

    Eckersall, Peter, Grehan, Helena（ Role： Contributor100% Tokyo (2013) by Rimini Protokoll as a Political Forum by Emancipated Performers and Audience Members）

    Routledge  2019.3  （ ISBN:9781138303485 ）

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    Total pages：xx, 364 p.   Language：English  

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  • 演出家ピスカートアの仕事 : ドキュメンタリー演劇の源流

    萩原, 健

    森話社  2017.3  （ ISBN:9784864051118 ）

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    Total pages：379p   Language：Japanese  

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  • 佐野碩人と仕事 : 1905-1966

    菅, 孝行（ Role： Contributor佐野碩とピスカートア）

    藤原書店  2015.12  （ ISBN:9784865780550 ）

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    Total pages：790p, 図版 [8] p   Language：Japanese  

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  • ステージ・ショウの時代

    中野, 正昭, 神山, 彰（ Role： Contributor宝塚を二度迎えたベルリーンの劇場──そのレヴューの歩み）

    森話社  2015.11  （ ISBN:9784864050852 ）

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    Total pages：394p   Language：Japanese  

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  • 村山知義 劇的尖端

    岩本, 憲児（ Role： Joint authorベルリーン、一九二二年――遊学中の観劇体験にみる、原風景としての混沌）

    森話社  2012.6 

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  • 演劇インタラクティヴ 日本×ドイツ

    （ Role： Contributor「作品の美学」よりも「作用の美学」を！―戦前の日独アジプロ演劇の実践）

    早稲田大学出版部  2010 

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  • パフォーマンスの美学

    Fischer-Lichte, Erika, 中島, 裕昭, 平田, 栄一朗, 寺尾, 格, 三輪, 玲子, 四ツ谷, 亮子, 萩原, 健

    論創社  2009.10  （ ISBN:9784846003289 ）

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    Total pages：351p   Language：Japanese  

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  • 『アプローズ、アプローズ！ 囚人たちの大舞台』劇場用パンフレット

    串田和美, 湯山玲子, 恩田泰子, 萩原健, 桂真菜（ Role： Contributor刑務所の演劇、受刑者の演劇—その虚実皮膜）

    リアリーライクフィルムズ  2022.7 

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  • 「COVID-19影響下の舞台芸術と文化政策―欧米圏の場合」報告冊子

    伊藤愉, 戸谷陽子, 辻佐保子, 大崎さやの, 田中里奈, 田尻陽一, 萩原健, 藤井慎太郎（ Role： Contributor再考を迫られる演劇（制度）の在り方、その持続可能性――コロナ禍を受けたドイツの演劇）

    2021.5 

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  • ドイツ アウフブルッフによる刑務所演劇の挑戦

    庭山由佳, 萩原健, 東京芸術劇場（ Role： Joint editor）

    公益財団法人東京都歴史文化財団 東京芸術劇場  2021.3 

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    Total pages：68   Language：Japanese   Book type：Report

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  • 西洋演劇論アンソロジー

    山下, 純照, 西洋比較演劇研究会（ Role： Contributorピスカートア；デュレンマット）

    月曜社  2019.9  （ ISBN:9784865030822 ）

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    Total pages：xiii, 593p   Language：Japanese  

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  • Leclercq/Rossion/Jones (ed.): Capturing the Essence of Performance. 27th SIBMAS Congress, Glasgow 2008.

    Frankfurt a.M. u.a. (Lang)  2010 

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  • オペラ学の地平 総合舞台芸術への学際的アプローチⅡ

    丸本, 隆, 伊藤, 直子, 長谷川, 悦朗, 福中, 冬子, 森, 佳子(フランス劇音楽), 弓削, 尚子, 大崎, さやの, 茂木, 一衛, 吉田, 寛, 中澤, はるみ, 小島, 康男, 滝井, 敬子, 萩原, 健, 広瀬, 大介, 笹川, 慶子（ Role： Contributorヤナーチェク「カーチャ・カバノヴァー」の演出―マルターラーとタールハイマーの場合）

    彩流社  2009.3  （ ISBN:9784779114182 ）

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    Total pages：294, 28p   Language：Japanese  

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  • 明治大学国際日本学部編『［ニッポン学］の現在』

    角川学術出版  2008 

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  • 演劇論の変貌 : 今日の演劇をどうとらえるか

    毛利, 三弥, Carlson, Marvin A., Fischer-Lichte, Erika, Féral, Josette, Reinelt, Janelle G., Balme, Christopher B., Whitton, David, 斎藤, 偕子, Sauter, Willmar, 岸田, 真, 萩原, 健, 平井, 正子, 永田, 靖, 山下, 純照, 小菅, 隼人, 井上, 優

    論創社  2007.11  （ ISBN:9784846006303 ）

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    Total pages：284p   Language：Japanese  

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  • 集団の声、集団の身体 : 1920・30年代の日本とドイツにおけるアジプロ演劇 : 早稲田大学坪内博士記念演劇博物館企画展

    早稲田大学演劇博物館, 萩原, 健

    早稲田大学坪内博士記念演劇博物館  2007.11 

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    Total pages：78p   Language：Japanese  

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  • 演劇学のキーワーズ

    ぺりかん社  2007 

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  • Dembski, Ulrike, M&uuml;hlegger-Henhapel (ed.): Performing Arts Collenctions on the Offensive. 26th SIBMAS Congress, Vienna 2006.

    Frankfurt a.M. u.a. (Lang)  2007 

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MISC

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Presentations

  • Exploring Identity and Roots: Through the Creation of Documentary Theater Works

    Ken Hagiwara

    Japanese Society for Theatre Research, 2025 Autumn Annual Conference  2025.10  Japanese Society for Theatre Research

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    Event date： 2025.10

    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

    Venue：Professional College of Arts and Tourism   Country/Region：Japan  

    The presenter is creating documentary theater works with students in workshops at their school. The model is the work of Rimini Protokoll, in which the presenter has been involved. Specifically, multiple life histories are woven based on the students' own backgrounds and the history of the places where they were born and raised. It is a collaborative learning process where the students themselves become the narrators of oral history, exploring their identities and roots, while the teachers also gain knowledge from their narratives.

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  • Carnivalesque Practice of the Agitprop Troupes in Japan International conference

    Ken Hagiwara

    The Fourth EAJS* Conference in Japan (*European Association for Japanese Studies)  2025.9  European Association for Japanese Studies

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    Event date： 2025.9

    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

    Venue：Tohoku University   Country/Region：Japan  

    This presentation will show the carnivalesque practices in proletarian theater up to the early 1930s, centered on the activities of the agitprop troupes.
    The activities of the agitprop troupes were intended to be close to the living spaces of the workers and to avoid monitoring by the authorities. As was the case in the Toranku Gekijō (Trunk Theater), performances were often staged not in existing theaters but in community halls or factory courtyards, and were organized under a network established by a number of troupes in cooperation with each other. Or, as in the case of Aoi Yunifōmu (“Blue Uniforms,” 1932) by the Mezamashi-tai (Alarm Clock Troupe), the productions were not based on pre-existing plays, but on interviews conducted by the members.
    Moreover, their activities easily broke through the barriers of genre and language. The Puroretaria Engeidan (“Proletarian Entertainment Troupe”) incorporated a variety of miscellaneous performing arts into its productions, referencing “yose” (similar to Western varietés and cabarets), in consideration of the interests of the audience and perhaps to camouflage themselves from the authorities. Or the actor/director Senda Koreya, who worked in Germany with an agitprop troupe that referenced Soviet examples and collaborated with the playwright/director Gustav von Wangenheim, applied their practices to his work in the Mezamashi-tai after returning to Japan. The Mezamashi-tai also participated in the festival “Kokusai Engeki Tookakan (Ten Days of International Theater),” which was also attended by agitprop troupes such as “San-ichi Gekijō (March the First Troupe)” and “Sengo Gekijō (Koreanophone Troupe),” which produced and performed plays in Korean. Activities aimed at solidarity with theater people outside of Japan were also actively developed.
    In this way, agitprop troupes developed highly free forms of expression that were not bound by the conventional frameworks such as theater buildings, plays, genres, or languages. Their energetic activities were highly carnival-like, and through their “polyphony” (Bakhtin), they attempted to shake up the established order.

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  • Organized Disorder: Practices of Proletarian Theater in Japan around 1930 International conference

    Ken Hagiwara

    IFTR Conference 2025 Performing Carnival: Ekstasis, Subversion, Metamorphosis  2025.6  International Federation for Theatre Research

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    Event date： 2025.6

    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

    Venue：University of Cologne   Country/Region：Germany  

    Around 1930, the practice of proletarian theater in Japan was extremely diverse.
    It is striking first of all for its cross-genre content. The Puroretaria Engeidan (Proletarian Entertainment Troupe) took its cue from Yose which is like Western cabarets and varietés. The playwright KUBO Sakae took an interest in Kabuki. The director SENDA Koreya went to Germany to join a Agitprop troupe, which was modeled on the Soviet Union's Blue Blouse, and co-directed a production referring to Japanese traditional performing arts. After returning to Japan, SENDA applied the practices he learned in Germany to the activities of the Mezamashi-tai (Alarm Clock Troupe), the reorganized Puroretaria Engeidan.
    The venues for their performances were also diverse. The troupe Toranku Gekijo (Trunk Theatre) "was mobilized" to workers' meeting halls and factory courtyards. The same was practiced by the Puroretaria Engeidan and the Mezamashi-tai.
    Multinationality and multilingualism are also features. The San-ichi Gekidan (March the First Troupe) and the Sengo Gekidan (Koreanophone Troupe), both of which produced plays in Korean, took the same form as the Mezamashi-tai and others. They also participated in the "Ten Days Festival of International Theater" at the Tsukiji Little Theater with other similar groups.
    The above practices were often the result of references to popular performing arts, with the working class in mind and for non-political camouflage with the aim of distracting the authorities. The activities appeared at first glance to be disorderly, festive, and carnivalesque activities, but behind them were the creators' clever strategic intentions.

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  • The "Invisible" People: A Visualization of the Loss of Homes in Japan as Depicted in Takayama Akira's Works Invited International conference

    Ken Hagiwara

    Colloquium – Tokyo meeting Takayama Akira: Performance, Social Change and Preparing for the Japanese Future  2025.5  Tom Looser (NYU), Sharon Hayashi (York University), Peter Eckersall (The Graduate Center CUNY) Chiaki Soma (Tokyo University of the Arts)

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    Event date： 2025.5

    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (nominated)  

    Venue：Tokyo University of the Arts, Ueno Campus   Country/Region：Japan  

    Takayama Akira's work often focuses on people in Japan who have lost their homes. These people include the homeless, Internet cafe refugees, migrants evacuated from Fukushima, and Kurdish refugees in Japan. They live in temporary places and don't know where to go. They are often not recognized or ignored, so they become "invisible" in public. Takayama's work brings these people to the public's attention and raises questions about whether they will be able to return home in the future, or if Japan will ever be a place that they can call home.

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  • ゲオルク・ビュヒナー『ヴォイツェック』 Invited

    萩原健

    鴎座2024年演劇島プロジェクト 戯曲を読みなおすワークショップ  2024.11  鴎座

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    Event date： 2024.11

    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Public lecture, seminar, tutorial, course, or other speech  

    Venue：HIRAKU IKEBUKURO  

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  • ドキュメンタリー演劇とは［シンポジウム「アートベース・リサーチが拓く質的研究の可能性―ドキュメンタリー演劇を中心に―」］ Invited

    萩原健

    日本質的心理学会 第21回大会  2024.10 

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    Event date： 2024.10

    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (nominated)  

    Country/Region：Japan  

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  • 質的研究者のための演劇ワークショップ：ドキュメンタリー演劇を手がかりに Invited

    萩原健

    日本質的心理学会 第21回大会  2024.10 

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    Event date： 2024.10

    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Public lecture, seminar, tutorial, course, or other speech  

    Country/Region：Japan  

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  • Esperanto in Japanese Theatre: A Means of Bringing "Peripheral Japan" into the Light Invited International conference

    Ken Hagiwara

    Esperanto in Asia Conference  2024.8  School of Modern Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Arts, The University of Hong Kong

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    Event date： 2024.8

    Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (invited, special)  

    Venue：The University of Hong Kong   Country/Region：Hong Kong  

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  • How to design performative activities as a theater researcher (and practitioner sometimes) Invited International conference

    Ken Hagiwara

    The 22nd International Conference for Media in Education  2024.8  JAEMS (Japan Association for Educational Media Study), KAEIM (Korean Association for Educational Information and Media), CAET (Chinese Association for Educational Technology), and TCC (Teaching, Colleges and Community in the United States)

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    Event date： 2024.8

    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (nominated)  

    Venue：Meiji University, Tokyo   Country/Region：Japan  

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  • What We Can (not) Learn by Staging a Tragedy in Translation: In Case of Reinhard Goering’s Sea Battle (1917) Staged by Tsukiji Little Theater in 1924 as the Japanese First Performance

    Ken Hagiwara

    International Federation for Theater Research (IFTR) Conference Manila 2024  2024.7 

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    Event date： 2024.7

    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

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  • 多文化共生とドキュメンタリー演劇 Invited

    萩原健

    異文化間教育学会 第45回大会 プレセミナー  2024.6 

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    Event date： 2024.6

    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Public lecture, seminar, tutorial, course, or other speech  

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  • ゲーリング『海戦』の日本語訳上演にみる抑圧： 築地小劇場の男優版(1924)と 〈理性的な変人たち〉の女優版(2023)

    萩原健

    日本演劇学会2024年全国大会  2024.6 

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    Event date： 2024.6

    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

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  • Reconsidering the context of Tsukiji Little Theater in the interwar and postwar periods Invited

    Ken Hagiwara, Tomoko Kumagai, Masaru Ito, Rei Inayama

    EAJS2023, the 17th International Conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS)  2023.8 

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    Event date： 2023.8

    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

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  • Adaptation through Interweaving: Senda Koreya and the Japanese and German Agitprop Theaters during the Interwar Period Invited International conference

    Ken Hagiwara

    [International Symposium] Roar Asia! Proletarian Art and Literature in East Asia and their Cultural Transfer during the 1920s and 1930s  2022.7  International Symposium "Roar Asia!" Executive Committee

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    Event date： 2022.7

    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (nominated)  

    Venue：Soshikan Hall, Ritsumeikan University Kinugasa Campus   Country/Region：Japan  

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  • 演劇と美術 ドイツ語圏の場合［シンポジウム「演劇と美術―入り交じる時間と空間―」］ Invited

    萩原健

    日本演劇学会2022年度全国大会  2022.6 

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    Event date： 2022.6

    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (nominated)  

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  • 築地小劇場の意義を2021年に再考する

    萩原健

    日本演劇学会2021年研究集会  2021.12 

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    Event date： 2021.12

    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

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  • Transposition of Life: On Absence of Real Live Performers in "Non-Human Theater" for Depicting Dead/Dying People

    Ken Hagiwara

    16th International Conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies, 24-28 August 2021  2021.8 

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    Event date： 2021.8

    Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

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  • Celebrated “Hittorā” - Nazi Salute Onstage in the Postwar Japan

    IFTR 2021 Theatre Ecologies: Environment, Sustainability and Politics (12-16 July, 2021)  2021.7 

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    Event date： 2021.7

    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

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  • To Be, or Not To Be A Machine ─『機械の私』（2020）における人間と機械の臨界点

    田中里奈, 萩原健

    日本演劇学会全国大会  2021.6 

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    Event date： 2021.6

    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

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  • 2020年のコロナ禍を機に展開されるオンライン演劇、その現状と今後 ――英独仏語圏での制作・上演例から考える

    辻佐保子, 田中里奈, 藤井慎太郎, 萩原健

    日本演劇学会分科会 西洋比較演劇研究会 2020年12月例会  2020.12 

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    Event date： 2020.12

    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (nominated)  

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  • ルネ・ポレシュの仕事 ―その背景とアウトライン― Invited

    萩原健

    シアターコモンズ東京’25 コモンズ・フォーラム #2「演劇と社会」  2025.2  シアターコモンズ

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    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (nominated)  

    Venue：ゲーテ・インスティトゥート東京  

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  • 「災厄と向き合うヨーロッパ演劇～ドイツからのレポートを中心に～」SPTラボラトリーレクチャー Invited

    萩原健

    2025.1  公益財団法人せたがや文化財団

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    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Public lecture, seminar, tutorial, course, or other speech  

    Venue：世田谷文化生活情報センター セミナールームA・B  

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  • ドイツ アウフブルッフによる刑務所演劇の挑戦 ――芸術と矯正の融合を目指して―― Invited

    ホルガー・ズィルベ, 毛利真弓, 萩原健, 庭山由佳

    2020.12  公益財団法人東京都歴史文化財団 東京芸術劇場

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    Presentation type：Public lecture, seminar, tutorial, course, or other speech  

    Venue：東京芸術劇場   Country/Region：Japan  

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    Other Link： https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJzTbAnFunw

  • Tanino Kuro’s Works Reflecting Social Issues in Contemporary Japan Invited International conference

    Contemporary Japanese Theatre Workshop  2019.7  Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien

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    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (nominated)  

    Country/Region：Japan  

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  • Displaced Tokyoites in Shanghai and Tokyo: Topography of the Bodies (Re)Presented in Shanghai 'Vance King (1979)

    IFTR 2019 Theater, Performance and Urbanism (8-12 July, 2019)  2019.7 

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    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

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  • Japanese Bodies in the Age of (Post-)Globalization

    5th Baku International Theatre Conference  2018.11 

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    Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

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  • Hara Sachiko's Body in Her Recent Works in Germany Regarding Migration

    International Federation for Theater Research, World Congress Belgrade 2018  2018.7 

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    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

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  • A Displaced Japanese Body in Continuous Transition: On the Works of the Actress Sachiko Hara in Germany

    International Federation for Theatre Research, Manila Conference 2018  2018.2 

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    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

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  • Overflowing of "Japanese Bodies" in Recent Straight Plays in German-Speaking Countries

    Performance Studies international (PSi) #23 OverFlow  2017.6 

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    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (public)  

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  • Japan in Rimini Protokoll's Dramaturgy and the Tasks of Their "Translator" Invited

    Asian Dramaturgs' Network Meeting 2017  2017.2 

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    Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (nominated)  

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  • ハイナー・ゲッベルスの〈Music Theater〉 Invited

    日本演劇学会分科会 西洋比較演劇研究会 2017年1月例会  2017.1 

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    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (nominated)  

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  • The Production 100% Tokyo and the Socio-Political Atmosphere in the Japanese Capital

    Performance Studies international (PSi) #22 Performance Climates  2016.7 

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    Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

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  • だれもがプロの演者、 あるいは日常のエキスパート ――リミニ・プロトコルの ドキュメンタリー的「舞台」 Invited

    日本ドイツ学会 第32回大会「若者が〈政治〉に関わるとき」  2016.6 

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    Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Oral presentation (invited, special)  

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  • The gap between the "insider view" and "outsider view" on Fukushima as seen in the change of Festival/Tokyo's lineup

    Performance Studies International (PSi) 2015: Beyond Contamination, Japan, Tohoku  2015.8 

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    Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

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  • Reception, Collaboration and Coordination: Senda Koreya's Practice of the Proletarian Theatre in Germany and Japan around 1930

    2014 Annual Conference of Japanese Society for Theater Research  2014.6 

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    Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

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  • ピスカートアと佐野碩

    早稲田大学 演劇映像学連携研究拠点 公募研究「佐野碩と世界演劇」シンポジウム 「佐野碩、演劇で世界に勝負を挑む！～日本からロシア・欧州へ、そして北米・南米へ～」  2013 

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  • 佐野碩のドイツ・コネクション

    早稲田大学 演劇映像学連携研究拠点 公募研究「佐野碩と世界演劇」第２回佐野碩研究会  2012 

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  • マルターラーの音楽劇、あるいは夕べの光景―『巨大なるブッツバッハ村』を例に

    日本演劇学会2012年度大会  2012 

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  • The City as Stage, The Audience as Performer. "Tour-Performances" by the performance group Port B in Tokyo.

    FIRT/IFTR International Federation for Theatre Research, Annual Conference Osaka 2011, JAPAN  2011 

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  • The City as Stage, The Audience as Performer. "Tour-Performances" by the performance group Port B in Tokyo.

    FIRT/IFTR International Federation for Theatre Research, Annual Conference Osaka 2011, JAPAN  2011 

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  • ［国際演劇学会IFTR2011（大阪）参加報告ならびに検討会］「一般発表者の立場から（一）」

    日本演劇学会分科会 西洋比較演劇研究会 2011年10月例会  2011 

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  • 演劇の異文化接触、1940年代のドイツとアメリカ－ピスカートア、ウィリアムズ、マリーナの場合－

    日本演劇学会2010年度全国大会  2010 

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  • The City as Stage, The Audience as Performer. “Tour-Performances” by the performance group Port B in Tokyo

    2010 

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  • The City as Stage, The Audience as Performer. “Tour-Performances” by the performance group Port B in Tokyo

    日本演劇学会分科会 西洋比較演劇研究会 2010年12月例会  2010 

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  • ドイツにおけるドキュメンタリー演劇、その背景と歴史：リミニ・プロトコル（と）の仕事を手がかりに

    世田谷パブリックシアターレクチャー2010 シリーズ講座『舞台芸術の現在』  2010 

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  • 加速する枠のゆらぎ～ドイツ語圏の演劇・21世紀初頭の展開

    世田谷パブリックシアターレクチャー2009 シリーズ講座『舞台芸術の現在』  2009 

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  • リミニ・プロトコルの実践をめぐって ――『カール・マルクス：資本論 第一巻』を中心に

    日本演劇学会分科会 西洋比較演劇研究会 2009年4月例会  2009 

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  • Possibilities of collaboration between a Theatre Museum and an Institution for Theatre Research: On the International Institute for Education and Research in Theatre and Film Arts at the Theatre Museum of Waseda University

    SIBMAS Glasgow 2008: Capturing the essence of performance: the challenging of intangible heritage  2008 

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  • 境目の経験?『サンシャイン62』に〈出演〉して

    カルチュラル・タイフーン2008in仙台  2008 

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  • 〈Objective Acting〉――1940年代のアメリカにおける演出家ピスカートアの演技論――

    日本演劇学会2008年度全国大会  2008 

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  • Port B制作ツアー・パフォーマンス『サンシャイン62』ツアーサポート

    2008 

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  • Possibilities of collaboration between a Theatre Museum and an Institution for Theatre Research: On the International Institute for Education and Research in Theatre and Film Arts at the Theatre Museum of Waseda University

    SIBMAS Glasgow 2008: Capturing the essence of performance: the challenging of intangible heritage  2008 

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  • 〈キノドラマ〉『嗤ふ手紙』(1937) －20年後の連鎖劇？－

    日本演劇学会2008年度研究集会  2008 

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  • 1920・30年代の日本とドイツにおけるアジプロ演劇〜その現代演劇との類縁性について

    2007 

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  • An Introduction to the Tsubouchi Memorial Theater Museum at Waseda University

    2006 

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  • An Introduction to the Tsubouchi Memorial Theater Museum at Waseda University

    2006 

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  • Die Erweiterung des Spielraums – h&ouml;her, breiter, oder tiefer? Zur Entwicklung der B&uuml;hnen- und Theaterraumkonzeptionen in Japan und Deutschland im ersten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts.

    2003 

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  • Die Erweiterung des Spielraums – h&ouml;her, breiter, oder tiefer? Zur Entwicklung der B&uuml;hnen- und Theaterraumkonzeptionen in Japan und Deutschland im ersten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts.

    2003 

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  • Erwin Piscators Theaterbauprojekt vom „Totaltheater" und Inszenierung von Hoppla, wir leben!

    1999 

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  • Erwin Piscators Theaterbauprojekt vom „Totaltheater" und Inszenierung von Hoppla, wir leben!

    1999 

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Works

Awards

  • 河竹賞奨励賞

    2018   日本演劇学会   『演出家ピスカートアの仕事 ドキュメンタリー演劇の源流』（森話社、2017年）

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Research Projects

  • プロレタリア文化運動研究のプラットフォーム構築と応用：学際性と国際性を視座にして

    Grant number：25K00450  2025.4 - 2029.3

    日本学術振興会  科学研究費助成事業  基盤研究(B)

    和田 崇, 村田裕和, 足立元, 鴨川都美, 神村和美, 竹内栄美子, 杉淵洋一, 李珠姫, 萩原健

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    Authorship：Coinvestigator(s) 

    Grant amount：\17160000 （ Direct Cost: \13200000 、 Indirect Cost：\3960000 ）

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  • 探究学習を多様化するアートベース・リサーチ: 循環的共創を生み出す教育環境デザイン

    Grant number：24K06243  2024.4 - 2027.3

    日本学術振興会  科学研究費助成事業  基盤研究(C)

    岸 磨貴子, 萩原 健, 青山 征彦, 川島 裕子

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    Authorship：Coinvestigator(s) 

    Grant amount：\4550000 （ Direct Cost: \3500000 、 Indirect Cost：\1050000 ）

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  • 世界演劇史における築地小劇場の意義の究明と発信

    Grant number：22K00153  2022.4 - 2025.3

    日本学術振興会  科学研究費助成事業 基盤研究(C)  基盤研究(C)

    萩原 健, 伊藤 愉, 熊谷知子, 稲山玲

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    Grant amount：\3250000 （ Direct Cost: \2500000 、 Indirect Cost：\750000 ）

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  • The development of German theatre outside of Germany during World War II-the example of Erwin Piscator's work in his American exile

    Grant number：20720045  2008 - 2009

    Japan Society for the Promotion of Science  Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)  Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)

    HAGIWARA Ken

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    Authorship：Principal investigator 

    Grant amount：\1300000 （ Direct Cost: \1000000 、 Indirect Cost：\300000 ）

    While conventional research on German theatre often focuses on dramatic pieces staged in Germany, the aim of this research was to examine the works by German theatre director Erwin Piscator during his exile in Soviet Russia, France, and finally in the United States of America during World War II. The material, however, showed that Piscator's work in the US was of special importance among his works created in exile. Therefore, the research focused on his activities as the director of a Theatre School in New York City and on two presentations given at the annual conferences of the Japanese Society for Theater Research (JSTR). The latter presentation will be published as a research paper in the journal of the JSTR in Japanese.

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