Tokyo International Players Second Stage Presents “Greater Tuna”

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo International Players, Japan’s longest running English language theater group, proudly presents an extended engagement of “Greater Tuna” in September.

Following its premiere in 1982, “Greater Tuna” quickly became one of the most widely-produced plays in the United States. An uproarious satire on rural American mores, the play is set in Texas’ third-smallest town — where the Lion’s Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies. The wacky backwater characters, who number twenty in total, are portrayed on the stage by just two actors, making this quick-change comedy even more fascinating and funny. “Greater Tuna” has to be seen to be believed!

Last year, TIP Second Stage staged “Greater Tuna” in its intimate, black box space to tremendous audience response. This encore production features Bob Werley reprising his roles, joined by TIP veteran Charlie Lent. Andrew Martinez is returning as director.

“Greater Tuna is such a hilarious show I felt Tokyoites deserved another chance to see it,” said Martinez. “This time around I cast the show as it was originally performed, with two males playing 10 roles each. It adds another dimension with a more diversified chemistry. Hope y’all can come on down and see the show!”

Shows are scheduled for September 3, 4, 5 & 10, 11 and 12 and begin at 7 p.m. at Our Space Theater. Reserved tickets cost 2,000 yen, and tickets at the door are 2,500 yen. Admission includes one free drink.

Reservations can be made by sending an e-mail to amartinez@tokyoplayers.org with date of the show and number of tickets required. Visit the Greater Tuna Facebook page.

The venue, Our Space, is located off the north side of Koshu Kaido street, a three-minute walk from Hatagaya Station, or a five-minute taxi from Shinjuku Station’s south exit.

For more information, or to arrange photographs or interviews, the media contact is Andrew Martinez: 090-2643-5919; amartinez@tokyoplayers.org.

A free pair of tickets to Tokyo Reporter readers!
To enter, send an e-mail to greatertunatokyo@gmail.com with “Greater Tuna” in the subject line, before Thursday, September 2 at 6pm. Include your name, telephone number and requested performance date in the body of the message. Entrants must be over 16 yrs of age. Winners will be notified by e-mail.

‘It’s a return!’ — Nikkatsu resurrects ‘roman porno’

TOKYO (TR) – The promotional flyer says it all: “This is not a remake — it’s a return!”

Four decades ago, struggling studio Nikkatsu shifted its focus from action and gangster films to a form of soft pornography termed “roman porno” (an amalgamation of romance and pornography), a breakthrough genre for a major studio that was characterized by relatively substantial storylines blended with copious nude scenes.

“Danchizuma: Hirusagari no Joji” (Apartment Wife: Afternoon Affair), released in 1971, detailed the erotic extramarital activities of a married woman residing in one of Japan’s infamously bland suburban block-housing units.

“At that time society regarded it as a dirty film,” said the female lead, Kazuko Shirakawa, 62, at a speaking engagement at theater Eurospace in Tokyo’s Shibuya district in February. “It was not ordinary for a woman to be seen naked. The overall content was a bit shocking.” Read more

Just-in-time rescue from rapist arouses raunchy outdoor romance

The February issue of Ai no Taiken Special Deluxe features a collection of “Fifty Readers’ Confidential Confessions of Ecstatic Experiences,” from which Shukan Bunshun (Feb. 18) extracted this gem.

“It was around 10 p.m., and I was on my way home from a date with my boyfriend. As we passed near the corner of a public park, we heard a woman’s voice exclaim, ‘Help me!’ and we immediately rushed in to render assistance.

“‘Hey! What’re you doing?’ my boyfriend shouted at the male attacker, who immediately dashed off. His intended victim told us she didn’t want to report her assailant to the police, so we helped her flag down a taxi and sent her home.

“Anyway there we were in the park by ourselves, still feeling the tension from this unexpected incident. And while it was dreadful to see that poor, terrified woman, on the other hand the excitement definitely piqued our erogenous zones, so to speak. So on an impulse, we acted out the roles of a fleeing female and male molester. Forcing my face against the park grass, my boyfriend had his way with me. Read more

Ouch! Fetishists at love hotels leave behind bloody, malodorous messes

“I was really surprised. When I went in to clean up, the room was a bloody mess,” relates the meeku-san — as chambermaids at love hotels are referred to in the trade.

The reason for the speaker’s astonishment is evident in her ensuing remarks.

“I could tell it wasn’t just some woman having her period,” she says. “The bed sheets were covered with bloodstains that had soaked through all the way to the mattress cover. There were bloody tracks in the bath too.” Read more

Tohoku red-light town looks to Tokyo’s Kabukicho for revival

Sendai’s Kokubuncho entertainment district is modeling an initiative for its rebirth upon the ongoing clean-up of Tokyo’s infamous Kabukicho area, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Sep. 29).

Hard-hit by Japan’s recession, various business and long-term building owners of the area, located in the city’s Aoba Ward, came together last month to form the “Kokubuncho Development Project.” The aim of the organization is to enhance the brand of the city — whose over 3,000 bars, restaurants and sex clubs have shared a style similar to that found in Tokyo’s Shimbashi and Ginza districts.

The first step was to come together as a group. Last month’s meeting consisted of approximately thirty men and women of varied ages, backgrounds and professions. Read more

Taxi drivers’ tales of taking it out in trade

We’ve all heard stories about female passengers who can’t come up with the taxi fare and ask the driver if he’s willing to take it out in trade.

“I’ve heard them too, but I never thought it would ever happen to me,” smiles an unnamed Tokyo cabbie to Jitsuwa Taiho (October).

A kojin (independent driver) was cruising one of the drinking areas after the trains had stopped running and was flagged down by a woman who seemed a bit inebriated. As he cruised toward the designated destination, he heard light snores emanating from the back seat.

“Okyakusan, we’ve arrived,” he awakened her politely.

“Ahhhh,” she yawned. “Oh! Oh my goodness; I’ve forgotten my handbag!”

“Oh no. . .”

She told him she kept no cash in her house either. Read more

Second life for Japanese taxis in Fiji

SUVA, FIJI – The green and yellow-striped taxis (or perhaps those colored in white and orange) that motor through Tokyo’s streets have become an unmistakable symbol of the capital. Yet one recent trip to the South Pacific revealed that these very same cabs are also in demand on the roads of Fiji.

Cab companies in this island nation often pick used Japanese taxis for their fleets because they are roomier, outfitted with better seats, and require less maintenance.

“The customers are happy because they are more comfortable,” says Iqbal Ali, the 50-year-old manager of Nausori Taxi & Bus Service, from his small and cluttered office near the departure terminal at Suva Nausori Airport. Ali estimates that eighty percent of the cab companies in Fiji use vehicles that formerly ferried passengers in Japan. Read more

Cabbies on receiving end of ‘un-fare’ treatment by indigent female passengers

“From long ago I’ve had women beckon to me, parting their legs and inviting, ‘How about one for the road?’” veteran taxi owner-driver Sugishita (a pseudonym) tells Shukan Jitsuwa (March 5). “But recently, the type of women who attempt this have changed. Before they were usually inebriated hostesses, or young gals returning home from a night at the disco without any funds.”

From about six months ago, says Sugishita, such scenarios began happening with “very ordinary” office lady types.

“I suppose it’s because of the recession, and there are more OLs who are broke,” he says.

In January of this year, the 45-year-old Sugishita was invited to a lady’s boudoir in Kameido. The time was around 4:00 a.m.

“She’d lost her wallet, ID, everything,” he relates. “I advised her to report it at the police box and she said, ‘If my section head ever found out, I’d get fired!’” Read more

Devious women spring honey traps at spring training

Spring training each February in Okinawa is the annual prelude to the start of the NPB season. Yet according to Nikkan Gendai (Feb. 2) it also is the beginning of a sport of an entirely different kind.

The tabloid applies the term “camp followers” to predatory women who travel to the southern chain of islands for the purpose of seducing pro baseball players. They are apparently not ravishing beauties, but rather fairly ordinary types who at first glance appear to be vacationing office ladies.

Hanging out at a roadside snack establishments that can be commonly found in Okinawa’s rural towns, they spot players and set themselves up for seduction. One dependable technique is to reach over and grope the man’s groin while the two share a taxi. Read more

King copra

MAJURO – The continually hot and dusty conditions found on the Marshall Islands’ capital of Majuro can be rough on the interior of any car, explains Joe Heran as his brown 4-door sedan taxi rumbles down the main road from the airport.

“I fill this up with coconut oil – $2 a gallon,” he says, producing a spray bottle of light brown liquid from beneath the driver’s seat. “It helps to clean the inside of my car. I just wipe it down.” He then pats the dashboard just below the yellow fuzzy dice dangling from his rear view mirror.

Adding a little sparkle to a car’s interior is just one of the many uses for products coming from the coconut – its dried meat, or copra, has been a major source of income for many resource-poor nations in the Pacific over the last two centuries. Read more

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