Kenta Yamazaki | Kamome Machine "Nanjing Project vol.6"
Kamome Machine's "Nanjing Project vol.6" is a performance and discussion aiming to explore how "we" talk about the Nanjing Massacre.Summary
Kamome Machine's "Nanjing Project vol.6," directed by Yuta Hagiwara, serves as the culmination of their research project on the Nanjing Massacre, which began in 2022. The work is structured in two parts: a stage performance and an optional audience discussion, conceived as a space to literally think through and experiment with the theme, "How we talk about the Nanjing Massacre."
The first part featured two actors portraying what appeared to be a couple. The performance integrated historical narratives, such as the weather forecast shifting to Nanjing, projections of events leading to the massacre on the back wall, and the recitation of the Murayama Statement. The characters' differing reactions to a ringing telephone—one cutting the call, the other attempting to listen—prompted the reviewer to reflect on their own stance toward the difficult subject matter.
Towards the end, the female character calls and questions official historical narratives, referencing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Q&A, before shifting the subject from the Japanese government to "you" and finally to "I." She repeats testimonies from Nanjing Massacre survivors, entrusting the question, "Why did your family have to be killed by us?" to the audience via repeated greetings of "Moshi moshi" (Hello?). In the second part, the reviewer found themselves unable to speak in the discussion, grappling with the difficulty of establishing "I" as a speaking subject amidst the complexities of shared Japanese identity and political discourse.
(Source：artscape)