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College of Art
Nihon University
a self-driven creative person.
About College of Art
and our history
Nihon University is the biggest universities in Japan, with 86 departments in 16 colleges, 3 junior colleges, 4 schools of distance learning, 19 graduate schools, and 2 independent graduate schools.
College of Art was founded in 1921. The Department of Theatre was founded in 1950 (although it stems from a theatre major founded in 1929). We provide theoretical study and practical study in parallel and boast many notable graduates in the professional theatre field of Japan.
Our Courses
The Department of Theatre offers classes in a variety of 10 majors in 3 courses, including “Stage Producing” (to the three majors of Playwriting, Directing,and Planning and Producing ), “Acting and Dance” (to the three majors of Acting andDance),"Design and Stage Management” (to the five majors of Set Design, Light Design, Sound Design, Costume Design, and Stage Management), with consideration for the balance of learning "theories" and "actual practices."
In practical classes such as “Theater production”,students of all majors commit themselves under the guidance of theatre professionals who are active in the Japanese performing arts world. Our curriculum, along with liberal arts curriculum and those from other 7 departments of College of Art, such as Photography, Cinema, Fine Arts, Music, Literary Arts, Broadcasting, Design, is composed so that students can cultivate the ability to think creatively and to acquire practical skills to shape careers in performing arts world.
Curriculum※As of September 2024
Required courses
Theatre History I (Japanese Theatre History), Theatre History II (Western Theatre History), Introduction to Theatre, Theatre Theory
Electives courses include
Stage Planning: Playwriting Introductory + I-Ⅴ, Directing Introductory + I-Ⅵ , Performing Art Management Introductory + I-Ⅴ, Play Analysis, Theory of Directing
Acting and Dance: Acting Introductory + I-Ⅷ, Dance Introductory + I-Ⅷ,Japanese Dance Introductory + I-Ⅳ,Physical work for actors, Voice work, Theory of Acting, Design and Stage Management: Set Design Introductory + I-Ⅴ, Lighting Design Introductory + I-Ⅴ, Sound Design Introductory + I-Ⅴ, Costume Design Introductory + I-Ⅴ, Stage Management Introductory + I-Ⅳ
Theater production I-Ⅳ, Japanese contemporary theatre analysis, Projection design, Introduction to accounting, Marketing basics, Traditional Theatre study, 2.5 musicals analysis, Theatre Seminars I-Ⅳ, Education and Theatre, Applied Theatre, etc.
Faculty
Midori Okuyama (Head Of Department)
Theatre producing
Performing arts management
Masahiko Matsunaga
Western dance
Naoya Kobayashi
Japanese Dance, Theatre history,
Folkloric performing art research
Sigeki Nakano
Directing
Eiho Yamaguchi
Stage and Production management
Ryu Matsuyama
Acting
Takuya Aoki
Set design
Kaori Minami
Lighting Design
Haruhi Imai
Sound Design
Yoko Ōike
Playwrighting
Mika Tominaga
Costume Design







