Moved on Respect for the Aged Day

September 15, 2025. Monday, a public holiday. Respect for the Aged Day.
For people in Fukuoka, Respect for the Aged Day often brings to mind the Hosho-e Festival at Hakozaki Shrine.
When I was a child, my grandparents lived in Kiyokawa, and when I would visit from Tsuyazaki with a gift for Respect for the Aged Day, we would go to the Hosho-e Festival, where I would end up receiving pocket money and walking through the shrine approach filled with food stalls.

Anyway, I went out to Fukuoka on that Respect for the Aged Day.

After-talk stream for 'The Boundary Line Between Blue and Gray'

This day marked exactly one month since the theatrical performance of 'The Boundary Line Between Blue and Gray' at the Kurume-za theater. To coincide with this, there was an after-talk stream on YouTube Live, and I listened to it with just my ears while driving to Fukuoka.

'Ao-Hai' is a work based on the Kurume air raids, featuring local residents ranging from their teens to their 70s. In the wartime scenes, only children appeared, depicting life at that time. Rehearsals began in July, and they apparently created the work in a short period of about a month and a half.

I participated as a reception staff member at the theater on the day of the performance, and I also watched the play.

The YouTube Live after-talk featured three people I met during the performance—Iribe-san, who was in charge of planning; Hayashi-san, who wrote and directed the script; and Tamura-san, who was in charge of production. The stream was from Tokyo, where they are based.
They spoke passionately and happily about the significance of gathering children in Kurume to create this work, a look back at the project, and its future. They also discussed the growth of the children throughout the rehearsal period, the challenges faced by each actor, including the adults, and so on. In the chat, Maehara-san, the representative of the theater company I belong to, who served as an assistant director for 'Ao-Hai,' also participated from Kurume. Listening to it, I thought the production team was a great group.
(Even if you didn't watch it live, you can see the archive at the link above.)

While listening to the YouTube Live, I was deeply moved as I recalled the events of the day of the performance and the actors on stage (both adults and children), and I nodded along to the behind-the-scenes stories.
That said, since I was driving, I was of course holding the steering wheel carefully. Furthermore, it was even more so because it was a heavy rainstorm with thunder and lightning on the way.

Daigaku-yu Haunted House

By the time the stream ended, I had escaped the area with rain clouds and was nearing my destination.
My destination was 'Daigaku-yu' in Hakozaki. It is a former public bathhouse that is a registered tangible cultural property of the country. At this location, a little away from Hakozaki Shrine, on the day of the Hosho-e Festival, the theater company 'Namu Thunder' was holding a 'Theatrical Haunted House'.

I parked my car in the parking lot and walked through the summer heat of Hakozaki, where the rain clouds hadn't reached, while looking at a map. What appeared at the end of my walk was Daigaku-yu, which had been heavily decorated and transformed from a bathhouse into a haunted house.

At the entrance, a young man and woman in casual clothes welcomed me. Since the previous customers were still inside, we talked about how I came to know about it from an X post, and how they had also done a haunted house in Kumamoto. In the process, for some reason, I was asked, 'Are you in a theater company?' and since I was feeling a bit insecure that day, I answered something like, 'I am in one, but, well...'

The young man seemed to ignore that response and went into the explanation of the haunted house, which was the main topic. Then, although the sign said 'Ezui' (scary) and 'Ezukunai' (not scary), he said, 'There is also Bari-Ezui.' I chose 'Bari-Ezui' (=super scary) without hesitation.

Into the pitch-black, humid former bathhouse for a brief stroll in another world.

I listened to the stories told by ghosts played by actors, was spoken to, and was chased. The fact that there was a story and communication made it theatrical and unique, and the elaborate props and small items created a sense of reality, making it fun as if I had wandered into another world. I'll leave the specific details for those who go inside, so I will only write my impressions here.

Well, when I returned to the parking lot and opened X, oh my. It seems the person I follow mutually was one of the people running the haunted house. I hesitated a little, but I told myself that since I had come all this way, I should meet them, so I gathered my courage and returned to Daigaku-yu. When I asked if the woman at the reception was that person, unfortunately, it was someone else, and she said she was one of the people inside. I felt embarrassed and said, 'I follow you on X, so I'll post about this,' and decided to head back.

I decided to head back, but after walking a few steps, I suddenly remembered that I hadn't taken a picture. I stepped back a bit and took a few shots while thinking about the composition. As I was doing that, the young man from the reception noticed and came over. At Daigaku-yu, I kept feeling embarrassed or acting suspiciously. Finally, when he asked, 'Shall I take one for you?', I felt like I had given up, so I easily said, 'Please,' and had him take it.

And so, this time I finally left Daigaku-yu.

Hōjō-e

I didn't go to Fukuoka just to visit a haunted house that takes about 10 minutes to go through from Kurume. I drove to my next destination while passing by the approach to Hakozaki Shrine, which was packed with crowds of people. I just glanced at the crowd and skipped the Hōjō-e festival.

Izakaya 'Miwa Shoten' in Takasago

The main event for Respect for the Aged Day was the izakaya 'Miwa Shoten' in Takasago, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City. It's in the neighborhood across the street from the Red Cross Road in Kiyokawa, where my grandparents used to live. I drove while looking at streets I've been familiar with since I was a child, like the Yanagibashi Rengo Market, Sun Road, and the rotary, and arrived at the shop with the upside-down sign on Red Cross Road, which I also know well. Miwa Shoten was located just inside this corner.

The performances that day were 'Hi' and 'Ninigi' by Obinokurosu with Bakadamian. They were a set of two one-person plays.

I went to see Bakadamian last September as well, and 'La Vita' at Pon Plaza that I saw this year was also directed by Mr. Shigematsu and starred Mr. Otani. I think I wanted to go see them again because their style suits me.

(Here is the Instagram post from last year, September 23, 2024.)

Last year's performance was also in a small tatami room, but this one was even smaller! It was a corner of the raised seating area in an izakaya, about 3 to 4.5 mats in size. Furthermore, the set's one drink (I had a non-alcoholic one since I was driving) and the appetizer plate were delicious, and the actors were taking pictures of the appetizers at the counter and posting them on social media before their turn. Since the seats were at the izakaya's tables and counter, I could see the faces of the other customers too. I had intended to come for a play, but the distance and the atmosphere of the place just felt like a normal gathering at an izakaya. The usual relationship where the actors and the audience, and the audience members themselves, are 'just strangers' was different here, and that was also a nice feeling.

'Hi'
A story about a high school girl dragged into ancient times. The singing, dancing, and action were all fun.

'Ninigi'
A story about an ancient prince fleeing his country because he wants nothing to do with the war business. The multiple roles played by one person and the action were fun.

Both stories were set in ancient Japan. They were layered with questions about the state of modern Japanese society. I also felt empathy for the perspective on society. Also, the incorporation of anime and popular songs throughout didn't just feel nostalgic; I felt a universal sense that also applies to the present. Well, that's the synopsis, but the two leads were running wild in various ways, and I enjoyed the play in a fun and silly way.

It was my first izakaya performance, and there was an option to join the after-party right there on the spot after it ended! But since I came by car and had to return to my family, the fun time came to an end. I spoke to Mr. Shigematsu for just a little bit and headed home.

My home in Kurume

After returning home, I ate the pork and carrot bowl I had prepared in the morning.
It was a Respect for the Aged Day of theater-going, a mix of embarrassment and fun. I didn't really respect any elderly people, but it was a day when the sight of my grandparents in the past suddenly crossed my mind as I passed through Kiyokawa and the approach to Hakozaki Shrine.