Geography: Asia > Eastern Asia > Japan
Year: 2015
Produced by: Okazaki Art Theatre / precog
Creative Team: Written and directed by Yudai Kamisato; performed by Wataru Omura, Masahiko Ono and Mari Kodama
Synopsis: +51 Aviación, San Borja begins with Yudai Kamisato’s family history of migration between Okinawa and Peru. Research into his grandparents’ movement expands towards wider Japanese migration to Latin America and the political histories connecting Japan to the region. The title uses Peru’s telephone country code and the name of a Lima neighbourhood, locating the work inside trans-Pacific geography. Studying the life of Seki Sano and Ryoichi Jinnai, Kamisato has put together a production which considers the concept of home and belonging. The production asks whether ancestry can provide cultural certainty. Latin America becomes part of Japanese memory, challenging national narratives that imagine migration primarily as foreigners entering Japan.
Source: Okazaki Art Theatre, official production page: https://okazaki-art-theatre.com/en/work/aviacion Performing Arts Network Japan, interview with Yudai Kamisato discussing the production and migration research: https://performingarts.jpf.go.jp/en/article/7125/