Geography: Asia > Eastern Asia > Japan
Year: 2025
Produced by: New National Theatre Tokyo and Seoul Arts Center
Creative Team: Written and directed by Chong Wishing; translation by Kawahara Kenju; design by Shima Jiro; music by Kume Daisaku
Synopsis: The 2025 revival of Yakiniku Dragon follows a Zainichi Korean family running a small yakiniku restaurant in Japan around the time of the 1970 Osaka Expo. Father Yong-gil has survived war and displacement, while his children confront discrimination within the country where they have grown up. Employment is restricted by the Korean ancestry inherited within familial structures which complicates citizenship and cultural belonging. The family’s neighbourhood is also threatened by redevelopment connected to the expansion of an airport, placing postwar Korean residents under another form of removal. Japanese and Korean performers share the production, while both languages remain part of its theatrical world. The production follows Kim Yong-gichi who fought in the Pacific War, his relationship with his daughters and their family restaurant.
Source: New National Theatre Tokyo, official 2025 production press dossier: https://www.nntt.jac.go.jp/release/press/NNTT_PressRelease_YakinikuDragon2025.pdf Seoul Arts Center, co-production background and 2025 production information: https://www.sac.or.kr/site/main/board/pressrelease/314208 South Korea