Episode 17: Koryu Nishikawa V

Shine Your Heart

Nishikawa-Sensei (he/him) thinks puppetry is life. Koryu Nishikawa V is the fifth generation headmaster of the 160-year-old traditional puppet theatre company, Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo, a national asset of intangible folk culture. Since he was a child, Koryu Nishikawa V was trained in the form by his grandfather (third generation) and his father (fourth generation). At the age of 23, he studied the three-person-manipulation-technique as an apprentice at the Bunraku National Theatre. In addition to regularly scheduled performances in Hachioji town, Koryu Nishikawa has performed throughout Japan. He also teaches and directs for many traditional puppet theatre companies throughout the country. Since 1995, he sponsored the program “Succeeding Traditional Puppet Plays” and continues to promote Japanese traditional puppet theatre in order to protect and preserve it. He and his company have performed for Union Internationale de la Marionnette (UNIMA) international festival in the Soviet Union, Belgium, India and France. Other invited performances include the 200th Commemoration of the Founding of the U.S.A., Belgian Music Festival, and the Lisbon International Puppet Festival. Since 1987, he has taught Kuruma Ningyo for The Swedish National Puppet Theatre Company and for the Swedish Puppetry Institute. In 2000, Mr. Nishikawa participated in the Uruguay Theatre Festival, where he received the Frorrenshio prize, a special prize for foreign play. In 2004 he was chosen as Hachioji sightseeing ambassador and in 2006 Koryu Nishikawa received the Hachioji city Cultural Testimonial Award. Since 2013, Koryu-Sensei has been a co-creator and performer along with Tom Lee in the multimedia puppet piece, Shank’s Mare, which has toured from NYC, to Japan, to Hawaii, across the USA, and France.