Coexisting with the Body: Dialogues on the Self and Body in the 21st Century
10th session "The Inheritance and Sharing of the Body: Using Noh Theatre as an Example"

Starting in July 2025, we will launch a new series titled "Coexisting with the Body: Dialogues on the Self and Body in the 21st Century." This series is co-organized by a JSPS KAKENHI (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research) project (Grant Number 23K12596) and the University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy (UTCP).

For this series, we will welcome speakers who are engaged in diverse research and activities broadly related to the concept of the "body" across various specialized fields, including philosophy, anthropology, sociology, medicine, psychology, fashion, theater, and music.
Through their lectures and interviews, we aim to explore questions such as "How do we engage with the alterity of our own bodies?" and "What factors define the unique perspectives on the body in contemporary society?" We also hope to foster discussions that can lead to insights for addressing the various conflicts people face regarding their bodies in modern times.

10th session "The Inheritance and Sharing of the Body: Using Noh Theatre as an Example"

Speakers:
[Guest] Mika Imono (Associate Professor, Meisei University)
[Host] Shinzō Nakazato (Project Researcher, UTCP, The University of Tokyo)

Date: 1:00-3:00 PM, Saturday, December 20th, 2025
Location: K101, 21 KOMCEE West, University of Tokyo KomabaⅠCampus

Please register from here.

Our bodies are uniquely our own, and yet they also seem to be something inherited from others, or something shared—held in common—with others.

What possibilities open up when we go beyond simply saying, “My body is mine,” and instead try to see how “my body” exists together with that which is not “me”?

How do “the inheritance of the body” or “the sharing of the body” take place in our bodily experience? In this session, we hope to approach this general question about the body through the lens of Noh, drawing on the experiences of two people who, by chance, came to be closely involved with this classical performing art.

Nakazato has continued Noh training since his student days, while Imono—who has experience in ballet and aikidō—is now engaged in Noh research alongside her own training.

On the day of the event, we will combine discussion with a small amount of demonstration, framing it as a “presentation of themes.” We then hope to enjoy an open and free-flowing dialogue with all participants on the topic. We look forward to welcoming you.

Mika Imono
Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Meisei University. She specializes in philosophy and the study of the body. Her early training in classical ballet led her to an interest in the moving body and eventually to the field of philosophy. She shifted from ballet to aikidō about 15 years ago. She is now in her sixth year of Noh training. Her current research interest focuses on the practice of kata (form-based training).

Shinzō Nakazato
Project Researcher at the University of Tokyo’s Center for Philosophy. Assistant at Aoyama Gakuin University’s Civic Engagement Center. His research fields are child welfare and philosophy. He began Noh training as a student, and in April 2023 performed the shite role in Takasago at the Itsukushima Shrine.

Organized by:
JSPS KAKENHI "A Study on the Social Problematization of Tattoos and the Categorization of Tattoos as Fashion" (Principal Investigator: Rie Yamada, Grant Number 23K12596)

Co-organized by:
University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy (UTCP), Uehiro Research Division for Philosophy of Co-existence