Inukai Visit

It is incredible to be in Tokushima because there is great local relevance to the dogugaeshi and many elements of my show.  Before the show premiered, we were taken on a very magical visit to Inukai, far up into the mountains to a traditional outdoor theatre.  Inukai is enormously important to us as it is the only place in the world where the original doguageshi is still performed and it is only performed once a year.  This visit was arranged by one of our sponsors here, Mr. Sato Kenji of the Cultural and International Affairs Division of Tokushima Prefecture Government.  We wound our way up the mountain through the tiny mountain roads and were greeted with a bushel of freshly picked local citrus by the generous caretaker of this rare theatre, whose puppeteers, screens and buildings are designated as significant Cultural Assets to Japan, a ranking under National Treasure.