Hiroshi Hasebe


Hiroshi Hasebe is the professional pseudonym of Makoto Matsuno, a Japanese theatre critic and professor at Tokyo University of the Arts.
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Career

Hiroshi Hasebe is the professional pseudonym of Makoto Matsuno. Born in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at Keio University. After fifteen years working at a publishing company he began his career as a theatre critic. He joined the teaching faculty in the Department of Intermedia Art in the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Tokyo University of the Arts in 1999, serving initially as associate professor until his appointment as full professor in 2010.
He engages in a wide range of theatre criticism extending from Kabuki to contemporary theatre. He has served as drama critic on newspapers including the Nikkei and the Tokyo Shimbun, especially in connection with the Kabuki theatre. He also writes criticism on his official website entitled ‘Hiroshi Hasebe TheatreGoer Directory’.
He served as adviser on the 2005 production of Ninagawa Twelfth Night) directed by Yukio Ninagawa and presented at the Barbican Theatre in London. He has served on the board of adjudicators for several prestigious awards including the Yomiuri Theatre Prize. He is currently on the board of adjudicators for the Kinokuniya Theatre Awards, and is writing the serial article, “Scene Changes” for the magazine Higeki- Kigeki.
Hasebe’s work falls into two main categories, one being criticism of individual theatrical productions. A major characteristic of his criticism since the start of his career has been a deep interest in iconography. Japanese theatrical criticism had tended before then to be concerned exclusively with actors and acting. Hasebe changed the focus of criticism to incorporate critical interpretation and analysis of visual elements such as set designs, costumes, propose and lighting.
 The second focus of his work has been biographies of directors and Kabuki actors. His work in this area has been based on a wide variety of sources including formal interviews, private conversations and email communications in addition to bibliographical sources. His methodology brings figures engaged in the world of the theatre vividly to life in his work.

Criticism of the work of Hiroshi Hasebe