Tomohiro Maekawa


Tomohiro Maekawa is a Japanese novelist, playwright, and theater director. Maekawa has received numerous accolades throughout his career, including multiple Yomiuri Theater Awards, Yomiuri Literary Awards, two Kinokuniya Theater Award, and the Arts Encouragement Prize for both his plays and his directing.
Maekawa is the founder of the theater companies and Katalushitsu. His plays have been translated and performed internationally in cities such as Seoul and Paris. Several of Maekawa's plays have been adapted into films. Most notably, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2017 film, Before We Vanish, is based on his play and novel. The film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section.
𝕏 tomomaekawa

Biography

Born in Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture. He graduated from the Philosophy Department of Toyo University in 2000. He established in 2003, which depicts otherworldly realms juxtaposed with everyday life through a supernatural worldview. His directing style is characterized by seamless editing of space and time.
In 2007, he published the novel version of Before We Vanish. In 2008, he received the Yomiuri Theater Award for Excellent Work and Excellent Director for The Front, the Back, and Beyond. In 2009, he won the Kinokuniya Theater Award and the Arts Encouragement Prize for Function Domino and Strange Tales from Koizumi Yakumo.
In 2010, he participated in the playwriting program at the Royal Court Theatre in London. That year, he won the Tsuruyama Nankoku Playwright Award for The Dance Floor of Plankton. In 2011, he received the 63rd Yomiuri Prize for Drama and Screenplay for The Sun. He won the 19th Yomiuri Theater Award for Best Director and the Grand Prize for both Strange Tales, Part Two and The Sun.
In 2013, he started the experimental theater company Katalushitsu, adapting and directing Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground for their first performance. He received the 21st Yomiuri Theater Award for Excellent Director for Notes from Underground and the Excellent Work Award for Fragments.
In 2017, Before We Vanish was adapted into a film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. It earned two nominations at the 41st Japanese Academy Film Prize. The film had its world premiere in competition at the Un Certain Regard section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2017. The film also received an award at the Sitges Film Festival, Official Selection. Foreboding was created as a spin-off of Before We Vanish. It was released in theaters in Japan on 11 November 2017. It was selected to screen in the Panorama section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival in 2018.
In 2017, he received the 52nd Kinokuniya Theater Award for Group for Ikiume with The Enemy of Heaven and The Invaders Who Take a Walk.
His productions include Tono Monogatari: Strange Tales, Part Three, To Teacher GeGeGe, and Endless.
In 2016, he had an English reading of The Sun in London. In 2018, the Paris City Theatre staged a French reading of The Strolling Invader, and Radio France aired a radio drama based on it.
In 2018, a Korean reading performance of The Strolling Invader was directed by Lee Ki-ppeum and performed by Company LAS in Seoul, with a revival at Arco Arts Theatre in 2019. In 2021, The Sun was performed at Doosan Art Center, directed by Kim Jung. Kim Jung-hwa won the Dong-A Theater Award for Newcomer Acting for this performance. In 2023, the same production was revived at the National Cheongdong Theatre. A dance piece titled The Sun was performed at Daehakro Arts Theatre.
From around 2021, his translated plays began to be published in various countries, including a French edition of The Invaders Who Take a Walk and a Korean edition. The Sun has been published in Spanish, Korean, English, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese.
In 2022, he created and directed Γ€ la Marge for Ikiume's first overseas production, performed at the Maison de la Culture du Japon Γ  Paris, participating in the Festival d'Automne Γ  Paris.
In 2024, he won the 31st Yomiuri Theater Award for Best Work and Excellent Director for Delivering the Soul.
In 2025, he received the 12th Hayakawa "Tragedy Comedy" Award for Strange Tales from Koizumi Yakumo, as well as the Best Director Award and Excellent Work Award at the 32nd Yomiuri Theater Awards.

Work List

Script and Direction

Referenced by:
  • Helicopter Field β€” 2003
  • Bossa! World Coordinator β€” 2003
  • Berry Roll by the Window β€” 2004
  • A Thoughtful Monster β€” 2004
  • Don't Be Shy β€” 2005
  • Short Stories: Library Life vol. 1 β€” 2005
  • Twin Fish β€” 2006
  • PLAYER β€” 2006
  • Incoming Call from Edo!? β€” 2007
  • The Tip of the Smoke β€” 2007
  • Union of Rhapsody β€” 2007
  • The Conference Room with a Hidden Exit β€” 2007, 2010
  • Uranus β€” 2008
  • A Friend for Sleep β€” 2008
  • The Front, the Back, and Beyond β€” 2008
  • Library Life vol. 2: Shield and Spear β€” 2008
  • Mutual Love β€” 2009
  • Kikkai: Stories Heard from Lafcadio Hearn β€” 2009
  • Enter by the Narrow Gate β€” 2009
  • Survivors of the Unseen β€” 2009
  • Library Life Vol. 3: Food Chain β€” 2010
  • Contemporary Noh Plays VI: Kikkai Part 2 β€” 2011
  • Mission β€” 2012
  • The Library of Life β€” 2012
  • A Fragment β€” 2013
  • The Engraver of the Sky β€” 2014
  • The Sun 2068 β€” 2014
  • Coming from a Dark Place β€” 2012, 2014
  • A New Holiday β€” 2014
  • Notes from the Underground β€” 2013 two-person play version, 2015 one-person play version
  • The Plankton's Landing β€” 2010, Holy Ground X
  • A Room to Tell Stories β€” 2015
  • The Sun β€” 2011, 2016
  • Tono Monogatari: Kikkai Part 3 β€” 2016
  • Living Time β€” 2017
  • Player β€” 2017
  • Before We Vanish β€” 2005, 2007, 2011, 2017
  • Library Life Vol. 4: Things That Attack β€” 2018
  • To Mr. Gegege β€” 2018
  • CO.JP β€” 2018
  • Pillar of Beasts β€” 2013, 2019
  • The Endless β€” 2019
  • Function Dominoes β€” 2005, 2009, 2014, 2017, 2022
  • Enemy of Heaven β€” 2017, 2022
  • The Outer Road β€” 2021, 2022
  • To Deliver a Soul β€” 2023
  • Useless Resistance β€” 2023
  • Kikkai: Stories Heard from Lafcadio Hearn β€” 2024
  • Going Out of Sync β€” 2025

Novel

  • Before We Vanish β€” December 2007, Media Factory; July 2017, Kadokawa Bunko
  • The Oni's Head β€” Published in Gunzo, April 2011 issue; included in the Japanese Writers' Association's "Literature 2012", April 2012, Kodansha
  • The Mosquito and My Mother's Blood β€” Published in Shosetsu Shincho, August 2014 issue, Shinchosha; included in the Shincho Bunko nex "I Told You Not to Look: Nine Strange Stories," July 2018
  • The Sun β€” February 2016, KADOKAWA

Illustrated book

  • Coming from a Dark Place β€” Original Work

Manga

  • Livingston β€” Original Work

Film

Television Drama

  • The first drama I created, "The Votive Hair-Plucking Festival of Idea" β€” October 15, 2010, NHK BShi
  • The Foreboding: Before We Vanish β€” September 19 - October 17, 2017, WOWOW
  • Super Premium "Mario: Where AI is Going" β€” October 13, 2018, NHK BS Premium

Radio drama

  • FM Theater: Before We Vanish March 13, 2010, NHK-FM) - Script.