[Thank you for selling out] Manhattan Old Man 2023 [Sponsored Performance]

●Greetings

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In 2023, we will open "Manhattan Old Man" on the 8th of the new year. After studying in New York in 1993, he performed a trial performance of this work in 2006, and since 2007 it has been on stage. Indeed, 17 years ago was the story of immigrant people living in Manhattan. However, as of 2021, Japan has become a major immigrant country with 2.52 million foreign residents and 1.72 million foreign workers.

It seems that the consciousness of "living together with people from other countries" has not yet developed among Japanese people. The mentality of the Japanese sees them as "outsiders," which is probably linked to the recent response of the Japanese Immigration Bureau.

Spirits approach and speak to people who are "physically" poor. It is they who bring to life their disappearing ancestors and ancient spaces in their native land. The spirit worship of this land is what gives rise to performing arts.

The stage of Noh is not the story of a winner, but the soul of a nameless loser who has been crushed by society as the main character (shite) and speaks to us.

I would like to express my heartfelt prayers at the beginning of the new year, and perform the performances with the words of Okina.

Makiko Sakurai

● About the work

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The story begins when three elderly men of Hispanic, Japanese and African descent living in Manhattan, New York, meet their deaths. They left their homeland and moved to Manhattan, where they died in poverty and loneliness. Heaven welcomes the three old men, blesses them with the birth of an old man in Manhattan, and auspicious visits.

About Okina

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From ceremonies to performing arts, I continued my field work in search of creative forms. “Okina” is the root of performing arts in Japan. The salvation of people is the proposition of the village organization, and its power is that the lives of many people who need salvation pile up like the rings of an old tree, becoming the "Kami" of the spirit "Okina". has become symbolic. The person who plays "Okina" is the representative who delivers the proposition of Mura to "Kami", and that person is the one who carries the burden of all people and has the strongest power of prayer for their salvation. prize.

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About Mr. George Yuzawa

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In the fall of 2005, I was introduced to Mr. George Yuzawa when I asked, "Who is Manhattan's old man?" His parents are from Nagano prefecture. As an immigrant to California, he succeeded in cultivating California rice, but during World War II, all financial transactions were suddenly suspended from Bank of America, and like most Japanese Americans, he lost his land and property. Become. After the days of the Japanese American internment camp in Santa Fe, many Japanese Americans were accepted as workers at a cannery for the U.S. military in New Jersey. I moved to the East Coast. Mr. Yuzawa was a successful flower shop and a mentor to many Japanese Americans. After the war, it became the center of the activities of Nikkei people who transported food to Japan one after another by ship to aid Japan in the food crisis. Also, in the United States, all items made by Japanese people are labeled as "made  by  Japanese" along with "a picture of a Japanese man wearing black-rimmed glasses and holding a hammer." We filed a civil lawsuit against the policy of the US government, which requires the logo to be displayed on products, claiming that it was "discrimination", and won the case. Mr. Yuzawa deserved to be called "Okina" by the people for his contributions to the Japanese American community. I would like to once again express my respect to him for helping the Japanese people in his home country after the war and for restoring the pride of the Japanese people from the United States.

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●About face

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The mask was made in collaboration with Mr. Shuta Kitazawa, a mask craftsman. First, I provided a picture of an old man, and then Mr. Kitazawa struck a mask.

The Hispanic Old Man Mask is from The Old Man of Afghanistan from the photo book "PHAIDON" by Steve McCurry. In 1979, in Muristan, Afghanistan, he prayed before a battle in front of many soldiers who had risen in arms against the Soviet invasion.

Nikkei no Okina Mask is an old Israeli immigrant at the time of the founding of Israel called "First Generation" by Tzilom George Segal. from our photo collection. Born in 1910, he was an old man of Russian descent who had settled in Israel since 1935, before the founding of the state of Israel.

The African old man's mask is an old man from Ghana in the photo book "GHANA" by Paul Strand. It was taken in the 1960s when the American rethinking of Africa began.

●Synopsis <Introduction>

The flower spirit visits the old people.

first act

An elderly Hispanic man living on the East River in Manhattan. He came to this country by swimming the Rio Grande when he was a child. His parents died shortly after, but he outlived them as well. Spring has come again this year, and when I saw the white chrysanthemum flowers blooming in the vacant lot, I thought that this might be the last spring.

Then, the spirit of the white chrysanthemum speaks to the old man. "Someone who has always loved me. When you reach your end, we will be your platform and take you to heaven."

second act

An old man of Japanese descent lying on a sickbed north of Manhattan. My parents migrated from Japan to the west coast of this country and worked together to cultivate rice fields. However, during World War II, their land was taken away and they moved to the East Coast after the war. He has a family and spends his days working again, but his wife and children have passed away.

Cherry blossoms are blooming when you look out the window. The cherry blossom season is the most beautiful day in Japan. Then the spirit of the cherry blossoms speaks to the old man. "We also came from your homeland. Let us now become your feathers and wings and depart for the kingdom of heaven."

third act

An elderly African man dying at a charity hospital in Harlem, Manhattan. His ancestors were captured like animals from the African continent and loaded onto ships to work as slaves in this country. Emancipation and the civil rights movement did not escape poverty and crime. His family and friends died halfway through his life, but he lived up to that. But now, I can hardly breathe, my eyes are closed, and I have nothing to eat. The scent of the red lilies blooming on the African continent was there. "I am the spirit of the lily that visits your continent at midnight when all living things are asleep. If you follow my scent, you will reach a paradise where all living things can live happily. Let us become boats and sail towards heaven.”

Fourth Act

Heaven shines with joy as it welcomes the three old men of Manhattan. White chrysanthemums are in full bloom, cherry blossoms are fluttering, and the scent of lilies is in the air.

The three old men meet for the first time in Heaven. The three old men ask the flower spirit. Why did he have to leave his home country to live in Manhattan and end his life in poverty and solitude? When. The flower spirit answers. ``There are many poor and lonely people in this city. In heaven, the three old men become old men, and auspicious visits to Manhattan.

Manhattan Old Man 2023

https://www.mari-pla.me/manhattan-okina2023