Watch. Meet. Wander.
What makes the Toyooka Theater Festival unique is how its venues extend beyond conventional theaters to encompass various locations throughout the city, such as the hot spring town, coastal areas, highlands, and traditional wooden community theater stages built on shrine grounds. While highlighting the attractions of the region, which includes parts of San’in Kaigan Geopark, the festival offers a program that is sure to delight performing-arts enthusiasts from across the country. It features around 70 performing groups from Japan and overseas, including international collaboration projects, emerging theater companies, and street performances.
Not only will there be plenty of opportunities to watch performances, but as visitors discover intriguing attractions, and take their time to wander around the unique areas, they are also sure to encounter delicious meals, renowned hot springs, and breathtaking scenery in each locale.
The festival, now in its fifth edition, will this year center on the theme of “Watch. Meet. Wander.”
We look forward to welcoming you with an array of events held in tandem with the theater festival, including the annual tradition of the festival night market.
Oriza Hirata
What began as a small theater festival during the COVID-19 pandemic is slowly but surely evolving into a leading theater festival in Japan.
Many artists from Japan and abroad aspire to be a part of this festival at least once in their lifetimes.
Even in years when they are not participating as artists, they eagerly open their calendars to plan how many days to visit, looking forward to who they will meet.
As spring approaches, audiences also excitedly await the announcements of programs for the year.
As the lineup is announced, theatergoers discuss amongst each other, contemplating which days they want to come visit and stay in the area.
What makes this festival unique is how audiences and artists are able to meet and chat at various cafes, ryokan, onsen, and soba shops.
Watch. Meet. Wander.
We wish to bring you a festival like no other in this world — a new kind of theater festival for everyone.
Hiroyuki Takamiya
The Toyooka Theater Festival has been held in nine areas across Toyooka, Yabu, and Kami, and in addition, Asago and Takarazuka will be joining this year. Among the areas are hot springs, highlands, and the ocean, and each place has diverse offerings of history, culture, and food. The Toyooka Theater Festival has hosted many performances that can only be experienced here: improvisational dance and music performances at Genbudo Park and Kasumi East Port, street performances in areas including the Kinosaki hot spring town, kagura (sacred music and dancing) performed by children using a historical community theater stage in Tanto, and theater performances at a ski resort or experienced onboard or on the platform of a sightseeing train. With the addition of the beautiful areas of Asago and Takarazuka, I’m thrilled to see how the festival will provide an even wider array of programs this year.
The Toyooka Theater Festival started in 2020 as a performing-arts festival primarily focused on theater and dance. The festival serves as a platform for artists to create and showcase their work, while also providing opportunities for visitors and residents to engage with diverse cultures and values, aiming to become a space for international exchange.
Furthermore, the Toyooka Theater Festival maintains a strong connection with tourism and community development efforts. It endeavored to give back to the local community, by promoting travel, conducting trials and demonstrations of public transportation, introducing a local currency, fostering programs that work closely with the tourism industry, and developing programs and workshops that involve local residents.
These efforts have been positively received, with the festival being awarded the Tourism 2021 Sports Culture Tourism Award, Tourism Award (Sports Agency, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan Tourism Agency); the Special Award at the 20th Kansai Zaikai Seminar (Kansai Association of Corporate Executives); and the 2023 Furusato-zukuri Grand Prize Group Award (Commendation by the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications).
Through our collaboration with the Professional College of Arts and Tourism (established in Toyooka City in 2021), we will engage in academic analysis and impact assessments to contribute even further to the local community.
A Theater Festival that Swirls and Connects
The festival has initiated various collaborative endeavors with businesses and organizations, including pilot schemes to ease travel between venues, the introduction of a local currency, and partnership with the local university.
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水田雅也『シンボル玉入れ』2023年 ©︎トモカネアヤカ Come together and interact, both the audience and the citizens.
In addition to offering a diverse lineup of performances by artists from Japan and overseas, the festival creates opportunities for various people to engage in dialogue. The night market and Meeting Spots serve as platforms for local residents, visiting theater goers, and artists to connect with each other.
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©︎トモカネアヤカ Developing New Initiatives to Connect with the Community
The festival involves the local community not only through their participation as support staff but also through the development of original goods which incorporate the area’s specialties and the offering of programs that are anchored in the region. Our goal is to engage a wide audience, providing ways to enjoy the festival which are not limited to conventional ways of experiencing theater.
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Utilize local community currency
To create a system where feelings of empathy stimulate the local economy, we have introduced a local currency for the festival. The currency can be used to purchase official goods and is also accepted at the night market and participating stores in the area.
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©︎トモカネアヤカ Collaboration with Students.
The Professional College of Arts and Tourism, established in Toyooka in 2021, is the first public university in Japan where one can study theater and dance in depth. As a part of their practical learning, students participate in the Toyooka Theater Festival, enriching the festival with their unique perspectives.
The “Toyooka Theater Festival Support Coin” is a local currency which creates a system where feelings of empathy and gratitude become central to the circulation of the local economy. The unit of currency is a CLAP, with one CLAP equal to one yen. The currency can be used at participating stores by scanning a QR code and making a payment through an online transaction.
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Constituent Organizations
- Community Art Center Platz, a non-profit organization
- General Incorporated Association Toyooka Tourism Innovation
- Toyooka Tourism Council
- Hyogo Prefecture Tajima Prefectural Government
- Toyooka Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Toyooka city society of commerce and industry
- Toyooka City
- Yabu City
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Secretariat
- Tourism Policy Division, Toyooka City Hall
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FY2024 Agency for Cultural Affairs, Cultural Tourism Promotion Project in the region centering on cultural tourism base facilities
