Toho Gakuen College of Drama & Music, Japan

 

 

Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music is a Tokyo-based two-year college which was established in 1964. The college now offers three courses of study: Drama, Music, and Stage Production. The Drama Course was established to train high school graduates hoping to pursue careers in theatre, television and film.

The forerunner of the Drama Course was Haiyu-za Yoseijo, the drama school affiliated to Haiyu-za, one of the leading drama companies in Japan. This school was a hugely influential contributor to the development of actor training in Japan, making drastic reforms and adopting new methods designed to synthesize the mind and body, and producing many actors and actresses who became key figures in drama, film, television.

In 1966 Haiyu-za Yoseijo was transformed into the Drama Course of Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music. This course at Toho Gakuen proudly continues the traditions and educational principles of Haiyu-za Yoseijo.　The course has three central aims. The first is to encourage students to interpret drama from the perspectives of an actor or an actress. In the reading process students develop an insight into dramatic creativity. The second is to foster students' physical development as the capacity to express their imagination through their body. The third is to provide students with the opportunity to apply their skills in ensemble and to contribute to group productions.

The Drama Course has two groups of students: those majoring in straight plays, and those majoring in musicals. Students majoring in straight plays study mainly traditional and contemporary drama so that they can become stage actors or actresses. Students majoring in musicals spend more time on dance and singing.　　　　　　　　　　    

Fig.1　A scene of “Fairy Tale at twilight, or Tasogare no Meruhen”.