Revival of the Showa Era: Underground Theater Poster Exhibition at Shibuya Hikarie

The event showcases posters from the 1960s to the 1970s, a period when underground theater groups like Terayama's Tenjo Sajiki and Juro Kara's Situation Theater were flourishing.

Among the exhibited items are large-scale posters with "psychedelic and indecent" designs created by artists such as Aquirax Uno, Kuniyoshi Kaneko, and Tadanori Yokoo, focusing on the performance posters of the underground theater of the time.

Additionally, posters and flyers from the same era, as well as old books, are on display and for sale. The lineup of artists scheduled to exhibit includes Uno, Kaneko, Yokoo, Haruhiko Akasegawa, Kiyoshi Awazu, Masamichi Oikawa, Katsuhiro Otomo, Sawako Goda, Kazu Terayama, Kazuichi Hanawa, Shuichi Hayashi, Koga Hirano, Katsuyuki Shinohara, and Makoto Wada.

The exhibition will run until January 28th and a related talk event will be held at the adjacent venue on January 21st at 16:00. The talk event will feature a special dialogue between Hiroshi Sasame, deputy director of the Shuji Terayama Museum in Misawa City, Aomori, and also theater producer, and art director Ryoichi Enomoto, who was responsible for the art in Terayama's 1974 film "Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets" and also designed the posters for Tenjo Sajiki's performances. The talk event is free to enter and does not require prior registration.

The exhibition "Japan Avant-Garde Poster Fair: The Fervor of Underground Culture Born from the Turbulence of Showa" commemorating the 40th anniversary of Shuji Terayama's death is open from January 13th (Saturday) to January 28th (Sunday), 11:00 - 20:00 at Bunkamura Gallery 8/ on the 8th floor of Shibuya Hikarie, Tokyo. The talk event will be held on January 21st (Sunday) at the same location.

by Andrew Yang

Source: Natalie