Nippon Performance Nights
german-japanese performanceseries
01.10. – 22.11.2025
Our program series Nippon Performance Nights offers diverse insights into current works by Japanese artists. Since 2013, Akiko Okamoto has been inviting productions from Japan and from Japanese artists living in Germany and Europe. These encounter the special German Japanese context that characterises Düsseldorf and are meant for both German-speaking and Japanese-speaking audiences.
Over the past 10 years, the Nippon Performance Nights have grown into a platform wherein Japanese and German artists benefit from cultural exchange through joint participation. The Nippon Performance Nights are an integral part of the program at FFT Düsseldorf and, time and again, a place for audiences and artists to meet.
The programme of this eleventh edition is slated to take place in October and November. It focuses on the work of two Japanese artists living in Germany: a premiere by conceptual artist miu (Düsseldorf) and a mobile film installation by Berlin-based Naoko Tanaka. A lounge evening with DJ Kazunori Yoda and delicacies from artist-chef collective „cook mal“ will once again take care of the special atmosphere at the Foyer. The second part in November will be a performative exhibition by Naoko Tanaka and a concert by the band Kukangendai (Kyoto).
History
Nippon Performance Night vol.1 (24.5.2013)
- „peu á peu” Yuko Kaseki & miu *Uraufführung
- „Small Sounds“ Miki Yui
- „Unfixed Images“ Lihito Kamiya *Uraufführung
- Konzert: AI
Nippon Performance Night vol.2 (15. + 16.5.2014)
- „Ich, als Behälter, der Japan trägt. Mit langen langen Schnüren.“ miu *Uraufführung
- Konzert: Tori Kudo & Maher Schalal Hash Baz
- „Body-Sampling-Body“ Yusuke Kimura
- „Klang.Körper.Vision” Chikashi Miyama
- Konzert: „Leam” sub-tle.
Nippon Performance Night vol.3 (22.-24.5.2015)
- „Fringe – Der Kleiderschrank” Yoshie Shibahara
- „Objektive Point Of View“ Michikazu Matsune & Maxim Ilyukhin
- Konzert: „Oscilla” Miki Yui
- „Matchatria – Extended“ Yui Kawaguchi & Yoshimasa Ishibashi
- „Namaeganai (There Is No Name)” Kim Ito & Zan Yamashita
- „Wettermaschine 2021” miu *Uraufführung
- DJ Chee Shimizu
Nippon Performance Night vol.4 (26.-29.10.2016)
- „ENGEKI QUEST” Chikara Fujiwara (BricolaQ) *Uraufführung
- „Dance, If You Want To Enter My Country!” Michikazu Matsune
- „AMMO-NITE GIG“ Yuko Kaseki & Gäste
- „Time’s Journy Through A Room” Toshiki Okada / chelfitsch
- Konzert: KUKANGENDAI
- Konzert: Haco / Stefan Schneider (6.10.2016)
Nippon Performance Night vol.5 (2.-7.10.2017)
- Konzert: Phew & Stefan Schneider
- „Next Family“ Double Good
- „Empty Ballons Society” miu
- „Today’s Jugdement” Jun Tsutsui /dracom
- „Classroom” Norimizu Ameya
- „Aktuelle Entwicklungen in den darstellenden Künste in Japan und im deutschsprachigen Raum“ Chikara Fujiwara und Gäste
Nippon Performance Nights vol.6 (2018/2019)
- 29.9.2018 „100 Keybords“ ASUNA
- 10.10.-13.10.2018 „TAG H“ miu *Uraufführung
- 16. + 17.11.2018 „Five Days im March“ Toshiki Okada / chelfitsch
- 6.4.2019 „On Kawara’s Pure Consciousness, or Many Worlds (and) Intepretation – And Then, Silence Arrives” Yuki Okumura + Konzert: wörc
- 18.-27.1.2019 „Homesick Festival” Michikazu Matsune
- 29.6.2019 Konzert: Realistic Monk
Nippon Performance Nights vol.7 (2019)
- 25.-28.9.2019 „Der Buddha-Teich (Shagakaike)” Jun Tsutsui /dracom/FFT *Uraufführung
- 10.-12.10.2019 „Fermata“ miu *Uraufführung
- 15.12.2019 „調査報告 – Der Detektivbericht“ Yuichiro Tamura *Uraufführung
Nippon Performance Nights vol. 8 (2020/2021)
- 16. + 17.10.2020 „「壁」と戯れる/Mauerspiel“ von Natsuko Tezuka (In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Japanisches Kulturinstitut in Köln) * Uraufführung
- 15.–17.12.2020 „「壁」と戯れる/Mauerspiel (zoom Version)“ von Natsuko Tezuka (In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Japanisch-Deutschen Zentrum Berlin) * Uraufführung
Nippon Performance Nights vol.9 (2021/2022)
- 2. + 3.6.2022 „o to da te – Düsseldorf“ Akio Suzuki
Nippon Performance Nights Special (2024)
- 18.06.2024 „Hitsudankai – From Now/Here, Silence” orangcosong
Nippon Performance Nights vol.10 (21-24.11.2024)
- „釈迦ヶ池再訪 / Der Buddha-Teich – erneuter Besuch” Jun Tsutsui
- „See a Porous Stone” Takuya Takemoto
- „Milliarden Jahre Widerhall“ Naoko Tanaka
Stadt(T)Räume-Bilder-Schaukasten
(Urban Spaces/ Dreams – Images – Showcase)