This program unfolds through a cyclical process of mutual learning, research, and creation.
While sharing their respective practices and inquiries through lectures and discussions, participants will conduct research based on their individual interests using the ZA-KOENJI Public Theatre and the unique neighborhood of Koenji itself as fields of exploration.
Finally, they will bring their findings together to organize a collective “party”.
Participants will further develop their individual practices, share them within the group, and carry those insights back to their own work. We hope that this back-and-forth process will lead to new ways of thinking about and experimenting with (Asian) solidarity.
Specters of ______
______の亡霊
Mizuho Watanabe is a scenographer and architect. She is the director of Scenograff, and the co-director of the Garage architectural collective. Focusing on the relationship between the audience and the stage, as well as the surrounding city and landscape, Watanabe’s practice considers any location to be a potential theater site, and aims to create spaces that engage with people’s movements, behaviors, and daily routines. She splits her time between Toyooka City in Hyogo Prefecture, and Tokyo.
Through her experience at FUJIWALABO from 2016 to 2018, Watanabe co-founded Garage in 2020. From 2017 to 2023 she was a member of the Seinendan theater company, and worked in the Toyooka Theater Festival administrative office from 2020 to 2022.
Recent major projects include Biomass Macbeth, an outdoor theater tour held at biomass-related facilities (Forest Festival of the Arts Okayama 2024, organized by Trans-architectural Theater). Garage is scheduled to participate in ARTE TOKYO (Tokyo International Festival of Arts and Culture) this year.
Born in Texas in 1993, and raised in Aomori, Japan, Kyle Yamada is a theater-maker, dramaturg, and translator. Kyle focuses on the temporary nature of theater as a medium, creating works that aim to deconstruct supposedly permanent social systems, while moving across the boundaries of performative disciplines. Past works include 1(忘)LDK, a set of instructions for generating a solo performance, Fahrenheit Alliance, an art project where audiences memorize a book of their choice, and A CALL TO BEAR ARMS, a research project on bear attacks. He collaborates extensively with dance artists, including Jeunesse White and Reina Kimura. Since 2026, Kyle is a participant of SPAC's BIOTOPE-Camp for Playwrights / Theatre-makers program.
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First screening Results: 9.2(wed)
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Second screening: 9.7(mon)〜9.10(thu)
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Final results: around 9.17(thu)
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Online Camp #1: 10.XX(xxx)
（The schedule will be arranged after participants have been selected.）
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Online Camp #2: 11.XX(xxx)
（The schedule will be arranged after participants have been selected.）
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On-site Camp period: 2026.12.6 (sun) - 12.20(sun)
（ZA-KOENJI Rehearsal Room1／ZA-KOENJI 1）
● Lectures, workshops, and field trips led by facilitators, the Communication Design Team, and guests
● Research conducted at ZA-KOENJI Public Theatre and throughout the Koenji area
● Party
● Networking programs with participants, partners, and theater affiliates
And more!
At the end of the program, all participants will draw on their individual inputs and research to create a “party” together that will be open to the public. (Reservations required)
Date: Saturday, December 19, 2026
Venue: ZA-KOENJI 1
Languages: Japanese and English (Interpretation available)
Party organizers: Performing Arts Camp in Koenji 2026 participants and facilitators
> 모집요강
■ Eligibility
Participants must meet all conditions:
1. Must be based in Asia.
2. Must be aged 35 or younger as of the application deadline (August 24, 2026)
3. Must be able to attend the entirety of the program.
4. Must be able to cooperate with the advertisement and PR activities conducted by ZA- KOENJI.
5. Must have access to a suitable online environment.
6. Must be able to cooperate with the necessary procedures for travel and stay in Japan. (The costs are at your own expense.)
*Provide necessary information for procedures required for visa applications, airline ticket arrangements, etc. (passport information, portrait photograph, etc.／Visa application at the Japanese Embassy, Consulate or Permanent Mission in your country.
Fill out the application from the link below and Please answer in English.
> Application Form
This year’s program will primarily be conducted in English (and Japanese). While English will be the standard language of communication within the program itself, there will likely be many situations requiring Japanese, such as interactions with theater staff or during fieldwork in the Koenji area. To address this need, the program’s Communication Design Team will provide language support in both Japanese and English.
Given the various asymmetries surrounding language—including political and historical structures—we do not consider this to be a sufficient approach. However, within the ZA-Party community, our intention is to build relationships by flexibly using various languages and tools as the situation requires, rather than treat language as a set of fixed rules. For this reason, we are not merely providing translation and interpretation services to ZA-Party participants. Rather, together with the program participants, we’re experimenting with and refining the very ways in which speakers of different languages are able to share spaces, build relationships, and collaborate. Before the program begins, the Communication Design Team will conduct interviews with all participants to determine how best to support each individual’s language needs.
Furthermore, while application reviews and interviews will be conducted in English, language proficiency will not be a factor in the selection process. At ZA-Party, we consider the interview to be a small-scale experiment where we can explore ways of communicating with one another. Please choose a method of communication that works best for you—such as having someone present to interpret between your first language and English, or using machine translation tools—and come prepared to use that method during the interview. The Communication Design Team will be joining the interviews to provide Japanese-English interpretation and ensure smooth communication between the applicants and Japanese-speaking ZA-Party Office members.
> guidelines
Facilitators: Mizuho Watanabe, Kyle Yamada
Communication Design Team: Art Translators Collective
Members: Kanoko Tamura, Yuki Harukawa, Hibiki Mizuno, Haruka Ueda
ZA-Party Office
Chief Coordinator: Minano Hirano
Coordinator: Nobutaka Nakahara, Mikura Hirano
PR: Yuko Yukawa, Minami Inoue, Hinako Someya
Ticketing: Shoko Yamauchi, Mai Osawa
Back Office: Mihoka Kawamura
Graphic Design: Takuto Okamoto
Organized by ZA-KOENJI PUBLIC THEATRE
Operated by syuz'gen LLC (Designated Manager)
Artistic Director: Keita Shirai
Representative: Yuko Uematsu
Theater Manager: Satoshi Okawa
General Administrative Manager: Mihoka Kawamura
General Affairs: Kentaro Torikai, Michiko Yumoto
Facilities: Hiroko Kominami, Rena Tsukamoto, Naoko Watanabe
Ticketing: Shoko Yamauchi, Mai Osawa
Public Relations: Yuko Yukawa, Minami Inoue, Hinako Someya
Production: Mao Furukawa, Minano Hirano, Chieko Honda, Shoko Miyamoto, Shunsuke Kawakatsu, Mikura Hirano, Yuka Mitsugi
Assistants: Kanon Ono, Sakiko Shirae, Aika Tokita, Seijiro Namiki, Shogo Nishiwaki, Moeka Nishiwaki, Mai Nomura
Reception: Minasu Kai, Shotaro Kawasaki, Shintaro Miyazaki
Front of House: Yumi Ito, Yukiko Sakura, Kensuke Matsunaga, Yuya Maruyama, Takako Yamamoto
Technical Management: Theater Workshop Co., Ltd.
Maaarui Cafe Manager: Takeshi Kamo
Facility Management & Cleaning: Akitem Co., Ltd.
With the nominal support of Suginami City
Supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan through the Japan Arts Council