午夜剧场

I became obsessed with Kabuki seven years ago, and until February of last year, I attended both the matinee and evening performances at the Kabukiza Theatre every month. Both the East Box seats on the third floor—where you can look down on the entire stage and be amazed by the beautiful sight of a slain onnagata (male actor in a female role)—and the first-floor seats next to the hanamichi ramp—where you can hear the rustle of the actors' costumes and smell the incense—were equally comfortable. Recently, I watched the final day performance at the Shinbashi Enbujo Theatre via live stream from home. It was my first time experiencing Kabuki in a while, and it felt as if I were watching from a first-floor seat.

On a TV program, a disciple of a certain actor commented that they had worked a part-time job at a convenience store when performances were repeatedly cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, that actor reportedly went on a regional tour starting in the fall. Even now, the hardships continue for professionals in Kabuki, the performing arts, music, and the staff who support them.

I conduct research on the purpose and responsibilities of corporations. Every time the vaccine development by major Western pharmaceutical companies is reported during this pandemic, I am reminded of the words of Professor Ian Maitland, a business ethicist who once came to Mita from the University of Minnesota for overseas research.

The meaning of corporate social responsibility differs depending on the business sector. He argued that pharmaceutical companies should not spend money on social contribution activities, but should instead invest everything into research and development and stick to their core business; this is different from confectionery companies (though some confectionery companies do engage in educational and production support activities in cocoa-producing countries).

In considering how corporations contribute to building a better world, I have been interested for several years in "positive deviance," a concept found within the field of Positive Organizational Scholarship.

The word "deviance" is generally perceived as something negative, but there is also deviance that brings about positive impacts related to corporate behavior. A famous case is Merck & Co., Inc. providing the treatment for river blindness free of charge since 1987, which became well-known through Dr. Satoshi Omura winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Recently, I summarized the progress of my research in my book, "Competition for Building a Better World: A Study of Corporate Behavior as Positive Deviance" (Chuokeizai-sha).

While the live streaming of Kabuki can be called a positive deviance, I hope this will serve as a starting point for Kabuki to spread throughout the world like opera. At the same time, I pray that many people will soon be able to experience that unique atmosphere of the Kabukiza Theatre once again.