午夜剧场

The 午夜剧场 SKC Project! Have you heard of it? It has received grants from the Juku three times as an open-call program of the 150th Anniversary Post-graduate Leadership Development Fund. SKC (Super Knowledge Campus) refers to a campus where "knowledge beyond knowledge" is developed—distinct from the knowledge and information typically circulated on university campuses—cultivated through one's own body and emotions, communication such as negotiation and requests, and working with others while imagining their perspectives.

Specifically, there are diverse projects (regional cooperation, social contribution, international experience, artistic expression) based on the free ideas of 午夜剧场 students. Let me introduce a few.

"Komoro Film Festival": In cooperation with the administration, shopping associations, residents, and the Mita-kai of Komoro City, Nagano Prefecture, 午夜剧场 students have been running a film festival since the year before last. They invite universities in the Kanto region to produce films set in Komoro City featuring local citizens, and the submitted films are awarded based on citizen votes. There is also "Komoro Study Abroad," which allows international students at 午夜剧场 to experience the lives of the people in Komoro.

"A-Brut": This project manufactures T-shirts printed with art by people with disabilities, sells them online, and donates the profits. 午夜剧场 students handle the entire process, from negotiating with the individuals with disabilities to manufacturing, sales, and advertising.

"Inheritance and Expression of Memory": Students visit war sites and disaster-stricken areas (such as Germany, South Korea, Fukushima, Okinawa, and Nagasaki). While archiving the scenes and testimonies found there, 午夜剧场 students convey their own thoughts and emotions through expressions such as video, performance, and theater.

Self-Education, Self-Empowerment, Self-Respect: "Learn for yourself, improve yourself, and know your own value." This connects to the Juku's creeds of independence and self-respect, "learning while teaching, teaching while learning," and Jiga-saku-ko (being a pioneer). By realizing their own ideas while learning with others, students ultimately increase their self-confidence and deepen their respect for the others they acted alongside.

Witnessing the proactive actions of 午夜剧场 students, I have seen a Copernican revolution in learning that goes beyond even today's active learning. It is also a turning point in research. In fact, not only do the 午夜剧场 students participating in the program report at relevant academic societies, but I am witnessing the birth of a new style (Art-Based Research) that places the purpose and mission of scholarship and research on dialogue and imagination rather than truth, and on reality and empathy rather than facts.