Yoko Akamatsu (Tsukuba Kodomo Gekijo) Taichi Nishina (Tokyo Gakugei University) Norifumi Hida (Waseda University) FACILITATED BY: Kentaro Miyamoro

Yoko Akamatsu is a coordinator of Theatre for Young Audiences, a facilitator of Drama in education, and a cultural policy researcher. Since starting her career 20 years ago, she has participated in Tsukuba Kodomo Gekijo (Children’s Theatre), an intermediary non-profit organisation, and has coordinated Theatre for Young Audiences initiatives. In 2006, she participated in a Drama in Education workshop given by a UK Drama Teacher and subsequently started facilitating Drama workshops with other members in Tsukuba. Afterwards, she wrote her master’s thesis, “Coordinator’s Functions of Theatre for School Children”. She is a former member of Tsukuba City’s Culture and the Arts Committee. Taichi Nishina is on a Masters programme in Expressive Education at Tokyo Gakugei University, studying Theatre education. In his Master’s thesis, he analysed HELIOS Theater in Germany from the perspective of the Dramaturgy of Things. His major research interests are Germany contemporary theatre, aesthetic education and Theatre for Early Years. In the summer of 2020, he participated in the Asian Baby Theatre Network event, organised by Mana Yumii (Director of Theatre company, BEBERICA). Norifumi Hida, PhD is Adjunct Researcher at the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum, Waseda University in Japan. He conducts research on Theatre for Young Audiences, Youth Theatre, as well as Drama and Theatre education. He also teaches Theatre history, Theatrical theory, TYA, Drama and Theatre education, and Applied Theatre at different universities. He is on the Editorial Board of ‘ArtsPraxis’, a journal published out of New York University in the USA; he is a Board Member of ITYARN; and a Board Member of MIRAI Festival (20th ASSITEJ World Congress & International Performing Arts Festival for Children and Young People / MIRAI 2020).