Mikijirō Hira (平 幹二朗, Hira Mikijirō; 21 November 1933 – 23 October 2016) was a Japanese actor. Starting as a stage…Mikijirō Hira (平 幹二朗, Hira Mikijirō; 21 November 1933 – 23 October 2016) was a Japanese actor. Starting as a stage actor in the 1950s, he also worked in film and television and was active until the time of his death. From the 1970s he starred in several of Yukio Ninagawa's productions, including an acclaimed role as Macbeth. Described as "Japan's best Shakespearean actor", Hira received several awards throughout his career, including an excellence award at the 2011 National Arts Festival hosted by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs.
Shimako Murai (村井 志摩子, Murai Shimako; 12 July 1928 – 9 May 2018) was a Japanese playwright. She was born in Hiroshima…Shimako Murai (村井 志摩子, Murai Shimako; 12 July 1928 – 9 May 2018) was a Japanese playwright. She was born in Hiroshima, but was not in the city on the day of the atomic bombings. She lost many friends in the bombing, and her profound sense of guilt led her to devote most of her life to producing plays connected with the Hiroshima bombings. She felt a strong affinity with the architect Jan Letzel, who had designed the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition building, which — by a stroke of luck — somehow survived the atomic bomb's blast, and thereby became the famous A-bomb dome. Letzel was Czech, and Murai decided to study in Prague. She translated various works between Czech and Japanese, including the first Japanese renditions of plays by Josef Topol, Václav Havel and Milan Kundera, and opera by Smetana and Janáček. For this work she won the 1968 Kinokuniya Theatre Award. Later her own plays were performed and won awards throughout Japan, as well as in Maui (Hawaii), the Avignon Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe, starring actresses such as Mahō Shibuki (ex Takarazuka), Takajō Miki (ex SKD=Shochiku Kageki Dan) and Kurihara Chieko (JMDB). She was married to Kuzui Kinshirō (ja:葛井欣士郎), a film producer and manager of the alternative Art Theatre Shinjuku Bunka during the 1960s and early 1970s. She died on 9 May 2018, at her home in Shinjuku.
Kaoru Osanai (小山内 薫, Osanai Kaoru; July 26, 1881 – December 25, 1928), was a Japanese theater director, playwright, and…Kaoru Osanai (小山内 薫, Osanai Kaoru; July 26, 1881 – December 25, 1928), was a Japanese theater director, playwright, and actor central in the development of modern Japanese theater.
Shinichiro Kimura (木村 真一郎, Kimura Shin'ichirō; born October 4) is a Japanese anime storyboard artist and director from…Shinichiro Kimura (木村 真一郎, Kimura Shin'ichirō; born October 4) is a Japanese anime storyboard artist and director from Hiroshima Prefecture. His nickname is Kimushin (キムシン), a shortened version of his name.