Organizer Information
ZA-KOENJI Public Theatre is a public performing arts venue in Suginami City, Tokyo, funded by the city and managed by syuz'gen LLC as designated administrator. The theatre is funded by the city of Suginami in Tokyo and produces, presents and supports a wide range of cultural activities for the community of Suginami, enabling people of all ages to take part in art forms from drama and dance to music and storytelling. Opened in 2009 and designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Toyo Ito, the building houses three halls (ZA-KOENJI 1, ZA-KOENJI 2, and the Awa Odori Hall), rehearsal rooms, costume and set-construction workshops, sound/video production rooms, and a play-manuscript archive. Keita Shirai has served as Artistic Director since 2023.
Within this context, the theatre organizes ZA-Party: ZA KOENJI Performing Arts Party, a platform connecting performing arts practitioners across Asia, in partnership with Art Translators Collective as its Communication Design Team. The program is supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, through the Japan Arts Council, and receives nominal support from Suginami City.
Title & Description
Performing Arts Camp in Koenji 2026 (PACK)
PACK is a two-week art camp for young performing artists based in Asia, launched in 2026 as the flagship program of ZA-Party. Participants will stay at ZA-KOENJI Public Theatre, bringing their own artistic practices and research questions and engaging in group discussion, lectures, and experimentation. The program unfolds through a cyclical process of mutual learning, research, and creation: participants share their practices through lectures and discussions, conduct individual research using the theatre and the surrounding Koenji neighborhood as fields of exploration, and ultimately bring their findings together to organize a public "party" event at the end of the camp.
This year's edition is facilitated by Mizuho Watanabe (scenographer/architect, co-director of Garage) and Kyle Yamada (theater maker/dramaturg), under the theme "Specters of _____." The program will be conducted primarily in English, with Japanese language support provided by the Communication Design Team; language proficiency is not a factor in the selection process.
Theme
"Specters of _____" (______の亡霊) — a theme exploring what gets left behind in the pursuit of progress, and what is revealed by pausing to reencounter what is unseen or overlooked, developed collectively by facilitators Mizuho Watanabe and Kyle Yamada.
Categories
- Performance
- Theatre
- Residency
- Interdisciplinary Arts
Eligibility
- Must be based in Asia (self-defined; open to applicants of any origin or nationality as long as currently based in Asia)
- Must be aged 35 or younger as of the application deadline (August 24, 2026)
- Must be able to attend the entirety of the program
- Must be able to cooperate with advertisement and PR activities conducted by ZA-KOENJI
- Must have access to a suitable online environment
- Must be able to cooperate with necessary procedures for travel and stay in Japan (visa applications, providing passport information and photographs, etc.), at their own expense
- Applications limited to one person per submission (collectives may not apply as a group)
Program Benefits & Awards
- Accommodation for the period of stay in Koenji (December 5–21, 2026)
- Per diem for the on-site camp period: 2,400 JPY (tax included) per day, for 15 days
- Event insurance for the on-site camp period (December 6–20)
- Coverage of required party and research fees, not to exceed 15,000 JPY (tax included)
- For participants living outside Japan: round-trip flight tickets from the nearest international airport to Haneda or Narita, plus round-trip airport shuttle
- For participants living outside the Kanto region in Japan: support for round-trip transportation from residence to Tokyo
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 24 August 2026
- First Screening Results: 2 September 2026
- Second Screening (Online Interviews via Zoom): September 7–10, 2026
- Final Participant Selection Announcement: around September 17, 2026 (Thurs)
- On-site Camp Period: December 6–20, 2026 (arrival December 5, check-out December 21)
- Public "Party" Event: Saturday, December 19, 2026, at ZA-KOENJI 1
Location
Tokyo, Japan
Additional Details
- About 5 participants will be selected
- Application reviews and interviews are conducted in English, but English proficiency is not a factor in selection; applicants may use interpretation support or machine translation tools during interviews
- All applicants receive notification of their application outcome by email (za-party@syuzgen.com)
- If unable to attend certain activities due to unavoidable circumstances, applicants should contact the ZA-Party Office at the time of application; exceeding a certain number of absences after the program starts may prevent completion of the program
- Dietary restrictions, including Halal and other religious requirements, are accommodated based on advance questionnaire responses
- Personal information collected is kept strictly confidential and used only for contacting the applicant about this program