IHATOV THEATER "Midday Starlight" the Musical, A nationwide tour starts from Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture, the hometown of Kenji Miyazawa!

The Warabi-za Theater, based in Senboku City, Akita Prefecture, challenges diverse forms of expression based on folk traditions, and Herald Bony, Inc. (Headquarters: Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture), which aims to transform the image of disability and create a new culture based on welfare. Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture, the birthplace of Kenji Miyazawa.

Based on Kenji Miyazawa's fairy tales ("The Mountain Pear," "Kenju Koenrin," "Acorns and Wildcat," "The Beginning of the Deer Dance," and "The Bear from Nametoko Mountain"), the piece tells the story of high school girls Ao and Meguru as they travel through Ihatov in search of "something important that they have lost. What is the last thing they find in their various encounters? ......

After performances in Hanamaki City and Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, from August to December, the production will be hosted by Warabi-za in Akita City, Morioka City, Aomori City, Sendai City, Sapporo City, Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, and Osaka City, as well as regional performances by other organizers.

Glowing balls filled with audience seats

Customer Comments] From questionnaires and social networking sites

I would love for the whole world to see this show (Female)

I was very moved by the beautiful and overwhelming expression of Kenji's world. (Female, 40s)

I felt the power of the stage and was moved to tears. (40s female).

The background and costumes of the heralds were wonderful! I felt like I was a crab as the fish came up to the audience and swam above me. It was an immersive experience! I felt like a crab. (20s female)

I was so happy to experience this moment with my children! It was wonderful! (40s female)

It was a real eye-opener. The dynamic of the deer dance, the use of the bachi, the sound, it was super cool.

I was moved by the musical and plunged into the world of my childhood with the singing voice and the shining ball of the starry night. (Female in her 80s)

I am so glad that I was able to see this performance while I was still in high school. The story made me think about the circumstances of the two girls, Aoi and Meguru, as I can relate to them in many ways (teenage female).

The audience can feel various ways, and there is no right answer. (Female in her 60s)

［Fumito Matsuda, Co-CEO and Representative Director of Herald Bonnie, Inc.]

　Herald Bonnie's gaze opens,

　The fountain of imagination that transforms "difference" into beauty.

　The body of the Warabi-za spins,

　A stage of prayer that transcends words.

　And the spirit of Kenji Miyazawa looked up,

　hidden in the depths of this world,

　and the transparent, strong, and gentle light that lurks deep within this world.

　When the three meet,

　It borrows the name of art,

　When the three meet, it becomes a symphony of life, borrowing the name of art.

Features and Highlights

Art by artists of different colors envelops the stage.

The stage design and costumes boldly incorporate the artwork of 11 Herald Bonnie contracted artists, creating a unique and beautiful theatrical space that vividly colors the world of Kenji Miyazawa's fairy tales.

Yamanashi

Acorns and Wildcat

Kenju Park Forest

◇An appealing character and dance scene utilizing folk arts

The fascination and physicality of folk performing arts, which the Warabi troupe has been studying, are utilized to express various characters such as humans, animals, plants, and fairies in a unique way. The dance scene is a spectacular fusion of contemporary dance and the deer dance, one of Iwate's representative performing arts, accompanied by magnificent music and beating drums.

Beginning of Deer Dance 1

Beginning of Deer Dance 2

Beginning of Deer Dance 3

Digital x Art: An immersive theater experience created by a glowing ball

One of the unique features of the Ihatov Theater is that the audience hugs the glowing ball, which changes color in response to changes in the drama, while watching the play. This digital art production eliminates the boundary between the stage and the audience, creating an unprecedented theater experience in which the audience itself becomes a part of the stage. At the curtain call of the first performance in Hanamaki-shi, a glowing ball that shook the entire audience created a new form of communication.

Staging with glowing balls

The audience itself becomes part of the stage

The stage and audience become one.

◇Enhanced accessibility

precog, Inc. supervises accessibility, and provides support and services for viewing with an eye to various differences, providing a place where everyone can enjoy the performance with peace of mind.

Enhanced Accessibility 1

Accessibility 2

STORY

Aoi Saeshima, an honor student, and Meguru Aoki, a girl who hides her true feelings among a group of flamboyant students, are childhood friends who attend the same high school. One day, a big, talkative draconian cat appears in front of them! Come to Ihatov!" Doraneko invites them to the mysterious wonderland of "Ihatov. The two travel together to find something precious that they have lost. The crab brothers live in the riverbed, a young man quietly tends to a cedar tree, acorns fight in court, and deer look like mountain deities. What does Aoitomeguru find by experiencing the way of life of the animals and people living in Ihatov? ......?

(2 acts, 100 min.)

CAST

SASAKI Ami [Aoi Saeshima]

Togashi Miu [Meguru Aoki]

HIRANO Shinichi [Yuguma]

CHIBA Makoto [Crab's Father]

MORISHITA Akio [FUCHIZAWA Kojuro]

KOYAMA Yudai [Kenju Oshika]

UCHIDA Katsuyuki [Doraneko, Bashabetsu] YAMADA Aiko [Wildcat

YAMADA Aiko [Wildcat (Chief Judge)

SATO Chiaki [Fumi, mother bear]

KUROKI Maho [Ami, Kiyo, Kaneka Ichiro]

MIURA Kanako [Crab's younger brother, baby bear] KUROKI Maho [Ami, Kiyo, Kaneka Ichiro

AKAISHI Miyu [Crab's brother]

MATSUMOTO Rina [Yuzuki, Acorn, etc.]

SUGIME Akari [Erika, fairy, etc.]

Cast 1

Cast 2

ART】】 Midori Kudo

Midori Kudo "Untitled" Rumbini Art Museum, Iwate, Japan

Sanae Sasaki, Untitled, Rumbini Art Museum, Iwate, Japan

Sueyoshi Yaegashi, House, Rumbini Art Museum, Iwate

Tsukasa Sato, Kobe, Aito Gakuen, Hokkaido, Japan

Higo Miyuki "Maru" Atelier Yahoo! (Kyoto, Japan)

Keiyuki Tanida "Long time to draw" Individual (Chiang Mai)

Fujiko Tomizawa "Untitled" Runbini Art Museum, Iwate, Japan

Naoki Watanabe, Hotel, Tamutamusha Nakayama Studio, Miyagi, Japan

Hiroshi Suzuki "Travel" Nozomi-no-ie (Tokyo, Japan)

Hirotaka Ito, Ame ga Furu, Ai Ai Art Museum, Saitama, Japan

Yasutaka Minami, Untitled, Atelier Yahoo! (Kyoto, Japan)

Art 1

Art 2

Art 3

STAFF]

Screenplay ：Yumi Tokuno ※"Toku" is the old character officially written.

Screenplay & Direction ：Higashi Suzuki

Music ：Satoshi Takeuchi

Choreography ：Majumi Egami

Folk performing arts composition ：Hiroshi Kuriki

Art Director ：Shotaro Hirayama

Lighting : Yasuhiro Kusaka

Sound : Masanori Suzuki

Costume ： Sonoko Takeda

Props : Shinobu Hirano

Hair & Make-up ：Keitaka Feng

Stage Manager ：Shinobu Ishii

Music Track Designer : Kosuke Hasebe

Singing Instruction ：Yuko Shiitake

Assistant Director ：Yuko Iino

Music Assistant ：Misaki Uehira

Choreography Assistant ：Asumi Kamiya

Performance Advisor ：Takashi Itagaki (Art Director of Rumbini Art Museum)

Cooperation and Dialect Instruction ：Toshiya Ushizaki (Curator, Kenji Miyazawa Memorial Museum)

Performance Outline

Performance period: July 20 (Sun) - December 28 (Sun), 2025

Performances in 9 cities throughout Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, etc.)

　　　　　　　　　　　and touring performances, school groups

Accessibility Supervisor: precog, Inc.

Supported by: National Executive Committee of the International Year of Cooperatives 2025

Planning and Production: Warabi-za, Herald Bonnie, Inc.

Co-sponsor : Iwate Prefecture

Sponsor : Warabi-za

Inquiries: Performing Arts Department, Warabi-za

　　　　TEL 0187-44-3332 (weekdays 10-12am/ 2-5pm)

　　　　FAX 0187-44-3318

Outline of Warabi-za

Founded in February 1951, the Warabi-za is a theatrical company based on folk traditions that portrays the spirit of the modern age with a variety of expressions based on the philosophy of "creating art that nourishes people's lives. The company is based in Senboku City, Akita Prefecture, which is known as a treasure house of folk songs, and currently holds about 500 performances a year with four performance groups. Major productions include musicals with Tohoku roots such as "Oshika no Oninimaru," "Ono Komachi," and "Aterui," musicals based on Osamu Tezuka's "The Firebird - Phoenix Arc," musical adaptations of "Atom," "Buddha," and "Jungle Emperor Leo," and musicals based on the Studio Ghibli film "Omohide Poroporo, In 2023, we staged "Festival Theater HANA," a non-verbal stage featuring the six major festivals in Tohoku.

The "Akita Art Village," a cultural complex combining culture and tourism, includes a hotel, hot springs, a microbrewery, and a forest crafts museum, and its core, the Warabi Theater, produces and performs original musicals using Tohoku materials and offers various other workshops such as folk dance, taiko drumming, and theater. The core of the company is the Warabi Theater, which produces and performs original musicals using materials from Tohoku. The "School Trip to Warabi Theatre" has a history of about 50 years, and every year 20,000 children from 150 schools visit the Akita Art Village to experience Soranbushi (traditional Japanese dance) and farm work.

Organization: General Incorporated Association Warabi-za

Location: 430 Waseda, Tazawako-sotoda, Senboku City, Akita Prefecture

Representative: Shinsuke Imamura, President

Warabi-za website: https://www.warabi.jp/