New visuals and artist comments have been released for “TIME,” a theater piece to be staged for the first time in Japan at the New National Theatre in Hatsudai, Tokyo, starting Thursday, March 28, 2024, and at the Rohm Theater Kyoto in Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, starting Saturday, April 27, 2024.
Ryuichi Sakamoto wrote all the music for “TIME” for the last time before his death, and conceived and created the concept with Shiro Takatani (Dumb Type). The work is based on the theme of “time,” and quotes from Soseki Natsume’s “Ten Nights of Dreams” (The First Night of Dreams) and the Chinese legends “Kantan” and “Butterfly Dreams,” which are said to have influenced Soseki Natsume. Visual art is by Takatani, with Min Tanaka and Rin Ishihara as dancers and Mayumi Miyata as sho player. Costume design is by Sonia Park (ARTS&SCIENCE) and sound FOH engineer is ZAK.
The comments released this time were made by Sakamoto, Takatani, and the performers. Sakamoto’s comments are excerpted from his autobiography “How Many More Times Will I See the Full Moon?
Tickets for the Tokyo performance will go on sale on October 14 (Sat), and for the Kyoto performance on October 29 (Sun). The first day of the Tokyo performance falls on the anniversary of Sakamoto’s death.
Ryuichi Sakamoto
I envisioned creating a form of stage art that blurs the boundaries between performance and installation, and boldly challenged the negation of time by adopting the title “TIME.”
(Quoted from a magazine “How Many More Times Will I See the Full Moon?” )
Shiro Takatani
After spending a long time working with Ryuichi Sakamoto on the creation of “TIME,” it is finally ready to be performed in Japan. Coincidentally, the first day of the Tokyo performance was the first anniversary of the death of Sakamoto. When I heard the news of Sakamoto’s death, I was speechless with lamentation at this coincidence. 2021 was a miracle premiere in Amsterdam with Min Tanaka, Mayumi Miyata, and the entire team working together to accomplish the first performance of the Corona Disaster with Sakamoto. I have had the good fortune to work with Mr. Sakamoto on many productions and have learned a great deal in the process. We discussed many things about “time,” the theme of “TIME,” from various angles. Mr. Sakamoto created “TIME” with much thought and passion. Like his other works, “TIME” is filled with Sakamoto’s ideas. The simple structure of “TIME” is woven into its many layers of thought, and I feel that I will continue to deepen my understanding of the deeper meaning of Mr. Sakamoto’s plot with each successive performance of the piece. The sound of Mr. Rokurobei Fujita’s flute echoing on the stage at the end of the play was recorded at short notice during the stage performance directed by Moriaki Watanabe, who played it for the last time before Mr. Rokurobei’s death. Everything is like a miracle and a dream, and it exists, in “time.
Min Tanaka
Human beings do not live only in the present. Nor is he who sleeps only in the present. They are those who dance their hearts out to the outside of the golden circle and live. I have been talking about this with Ryuichi Sakamoto for a long time. And I will continue to do so. It was a conversation inside the silence. One day, I was asked to participate in “TIME,” a stage production prepared and directed by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Shiro Takatani. I naturally wanted to throw my body into the resonance of the two performers. The preparations were already made. The Japanese tour of “TIME” will begin soon. I wonder if I will be able to talk with Mr. Sakamoto again.
Mayumi Miyata
TIME.
Space, sound, and words are all born from silence, and at the end, they are absorbed into the silence.
I spent an irreplaceable time in the Netherlands, surrounded by a great silence.
I am happy to be able to share this happiness with you again in Japan. What a joy it is to be able to share this happiness with you again in Japan.
I am sure that Mr. Sakamoto will come riding on a cloud.
I look forward to the spring of 2024.
Rin Ishihara
Now, what kind of trip shall we take this time? What kind of preparations should I make? What kind of breath will I feel there? I don’t care if I can’t go back! Let’s dive into the fantasy with all our might, even if we can’t go back! I want to ride the current of a big river with many vicissitudes, one of the small lives that continue forever, and continue to feel a fleeting moment that makes me feel “warm” even though I am always feeling a little sad. Isn’t that right?
