Okihiko Yoshizawa

Yokohama, 1963. Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics—and the mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the young generation struggles to throw off the shackles of a troubled past. Against this backdrop of hope and change, a friendship begins to blossom between high school students Umi and Shun—but a buried secret from their past emerges to cast a shadow on the future and pull them apart.

It is the last day of the year and night falls on the small town of Toyama, Japan. A man who has come to the public baths to retrieve a forgotten object finds an old but valid ticket and lets himself be tempted. Among clouds of vapor and the gestures and conversations around him, a simple bath slowly becomes an invitation to existential reflection.

Set in late 19th-century Imperial Russia, this acclaimed stage production by KERA stars Yuki Amami and Yoshio Inoue in a moving adaptation filled with humor and heartbreak. Madame Ranevskaya returns to her cherry orchard estate after years abroad, where she is welcomed by her daughter Anya, her brother Gaev, and her adopted daughter Varya. But behind the joyful reunion lies a devastating truth: the family is drowning in debt. Lopakhin, a wealthy merchant born to former serfs, proposes a plan to save the estate, yet the family continues living extravagantly. As servants pursue complicated romances and the idealistic student Trofimov speaks of a new future, the day of the estate’s auction draws near. What fate awaits the beloved “Cherry Orchard”?