Collaborative Creation beyond Borders
｜Observer - International Creations in Performing Arts 2025

TANAKA Rina

Project Covered: “Cruising: Traveling Tongues” by Yu-Ju WEN, Jang-Chi, Ness ROQUE (Philippines) & Ming-Chen LEE (Taiwan)

Theatre and Performance Studies (TaPS) researcher and critic. Associate Professor at the Faculty of Cultural Studies, Kyoto Sangyo University. Certified Anti-Harassment Advisor. After working as an interpreter and translator at trade show and for ODU K.K. In FY2017, she was a visiting researcher at the Department of Music Sociology at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. She earned her Ph.D. in Global Japanese Studies from Meiji University in 2020. She received the Helsinki Prize from the International Federation for Theatre Research in 2019. Recent contributions include chapters in Milestones in Musical Theatre (Routledge, 2023), The Routledge Companion to Musical Theatre (Routledge, 2022), and articles in journals such as Sound Stage Screen and Mercure des Arts.

ISAGO Yumi

Project Covered: “Engawa, The Self in Season” by Kenta KOJIRI & Hannes MAYER (Germany)

Editor. Graduate of the Theatre and Film Studies Course at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Waseda University, where she studied under MASE Yukie. Currently works at Chikumashobo Ltd., handling literary and humanities genres, including books, paperbacks, and web serials. In 2014, she initiated the planning of spring, a novel about a ballet dancer and choreographer by author ONDA Riku. The original version was published in 2024.

TSUDA Hiroto

Cultural anthropologist and artist. After earning a master’s degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Tokyo Graduate School, he is now based in Akita Prefecture, researching and studying the natural environment around the reclaimed land of Hachirogata. At the same time, he is working on several collaborative anthropological research projects on various topics, including morning markets, sake breweries, and designers’ creative activities. Since his student days, he has maintained an interest in physical expression through ongoing participation in contemporary dance performances.

FUNABASHI Yoma

Photographer. Born in 1981 in Oga City (formerly Wakami Town). After graduating from high school, he moved to Tokyo and worked at flower shops in Tokyo, Nagoya, and London. After returning to Japan in 2009, he enrolled at Tama Art University. While a student, he apprenticed under photographer KANBAYASHI Kan. Since graduating, he has been active as a photographer for magazines and advertising. Since 2013, he has lived in the small community of Nekko in the Ani area of Kitaakita City—known as the birthplace of matagi culture and for the folk performing art Nekko Bangaku—continually documenting matagi culture and the lives of people living in mountainous areas. He provides photography for publications including the Akita Prefectural Government’s free magazine Non-biri, All Nippon Airways’ (ANA) in-flight magazine Tsubasa—Global Wings, Mizuho Research Institute’s monthly magazine Fole, and the Aomori Prefectural Government’s brochure Aomori no kurashiburi wo tazuneru tabi (Journey to Visit Aomori’s Way of Life). He is a guest lecturer at Akita University of Art High School. In March 2022, he opened the roastery Nekko Matagi Coffee.

photo by Kyosuke Takada

HAKUTA Sasuke

Coordinator at NPO Arts Center Akita. Graduate of the Multidisciplinary Arts major at Akita University of Art. During his studies, he planned and produced broadcast programs that documented and filmed students’ fieldwork and creative processes. Currently, he records and shares stories of people he meets in Akita through zine production and interview articles. Since 2023, he has worked at the Akita City Cultural Creation Center, managing programs such as Litho Day, which uses a lithograph printing machine, and Katarubar, a program which anyone can become a one-day bar owner and simply talk with people.

INAGAKI Takatoshi

Project Covered: “A Vague Unease” by takumi & 4 CHAIRS THEATRE Company (Taiwan)

Writer and editor. A member of Kinoshita-Kabuki. Specializing in Hollywood and Asian cinema, he writes criticism, columns, and interviews for numerous media, including books, magazines, film pamphlets, and online platforms. He also serves as a researcher and a consultant for theater productions in Japan. Recent productions he has participated in include Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Presents Kinoshita-Kabuki’s Sannin Kichisa Kuruwa no Hatsugai (2024) and Cocoon Production 2022’s Pandora’s Bell (2022).

TOMOKAWA Ayako

Project Covered: “Beyond (working title)” by SUZUKI Yukio & Stopgap Dance Company (UK)

Graduate of the Department of Science of Art at Kyoto University of the Arts. She has worked at a variety of venues, from art markets to community-based public projects. Through editing and writing in media, as well as PR and fundraising at NPOs, she has focused on work that connects art and society on multiple levels. In 2019, she completed an intensive psychology program in Portland, Oregon, gaining international and psychological perspectives. In 2020, she served as PR Director for Yokohama Paratriennale. She established gallery ayatsumugi in 2021, planning and holding contemporary art exhibitions in various locations. She earned ACC certification from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) in 2022. Currently, she provides consultation and management for art projects.

TAKEYA Takako

Project Covered: “TOWA MURA” by BIRD Theatre Company TOTTORI & Tom Pow and The Galloway Agreement (UK)

Associate Professor at the Faculty of Business Administration, Ryukoku University. Part-time Lecturer at Doshisha University Graduate School. Holds a Ph.D. in Economics. From a cultural economics perspective, she researches the diverse development of cultural and artistic activities aimed at sustainable regional development. Board Member of the Japan Association for Cultural Economics. Member of the Japan Heritage and Creative City Promotion Committee in Tambasasayama City. Advisor to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network Tamba-Sasayama International Conference Executive Committee. Her major publications include Creative Tourism : Co-Creation between Tourists and the Community (sole author, 2025), Cities and Rural Areas in the Creative Society (co-author, 2019), and a major paper titled “Sustainable Development of Depopulated Areas through Creative Tourism: Possibility of Art Tourism in Suzu City” (sole author, 2022).