### Shuji Terayama talks about "The Future of Theater" - One Night in Shinjuku Golden Gai in the 1960s

### Shuji Terayama talks about "The Future of Theater" - One Night in Shinjuku Golden Gai in the 1960s

In the 1960s, Shinjuku Golden Gai was known as a cultural hotbed for theater people and writers. Among them, Shuji Terayama used a small bar in Golden Gai as a base for heated discussions about theater. One night, Terayama and his regular customers discussed "what theater is" and "the possibility of expression beyond the boundaries of the stage.

Terayama deconstructed the traditional theatrical framework of "stage and audience" and proposed a new type of theater in which the city itself is the stage. He says

Theater is not something that exists only on the stage. It blends into the city, and the audience naturally becomes a part of it. The boundary between theater and everyday life must be eliminated for true expression to take place."

Inspired by these words, the young playwrights present at the event voiced their opinion that theater should be freer. Citing his own activities, Terayama said, "By bringing theater into the everyday, such as ruins and squares, audiences will rediscover the meaning of 'life,'" and emphasized the possibilities of theater in the future.

Terayama's discussion led to the activities of "Jokyo Gekijo" and "Tenjo Sanshiki," which he actually worked on. In particular, the idea of developing theater in everyday spaces had a major impact on the street theater and underground theater companies that followed.

The dialogue on this night in Golden Gai went beyond mere tavern talk and was a symbolic event that cast a new perspective on the world of Japanese theater. This scene strongly reflects the characteristics of Shinjuku's Golden Gai, a crossroads of cultures.