F/T recently organized a special orientation event for foreign audiences in Tokyo who wanted to learn more about the month-long interactive theatre piece, "The Complete Manual of Evacuation".
Akira Takayama's work starts online, where audiences go to a special website, hinan-manual.com, to access a map based on Tokyo's circular JR Yamanote Line. By choosing a station you then get a map for where to go to visit a special location ("Evacuation Point") in the area.
The event saw people from China, Singapore, German and Eastern Europe gathering together to follow the intriguing red and yellow signs that take you from the F/T Station to the Evacuation Point in Ikebukuro. Putting some participants' fears of getting lost to one side everyone left one-by-one to take part in the adventure. Down stairs and through underground passageways and malls, up stairs again and out onto the streets. Finally, after a few mysterious minutes you arrive at the Ikebukuro Evacuation Point, which serves as the information centre for the project.
Here participants were shown the three computers that you can use to access the site and print off maps. Staff are also on hand to help you use the system. Online you are asked to input your name and then a series of simple questions. At the end you are recommended an Evacuation Point, which is one of the 29 stations on the Yamanote Line - or one of three special "Jokers", who are actually people that you phone up to arrange an encounter with!
Of course audiences are free to choose any Evacuation Point they wish and they vary greatly. All of them, though, are designed to help you explore and investigate Tokyo's invisible communities, its unseen elements. This may be a mosque, a hostel for foreign visitors, a shelter for the homeless or a fortune-teller. "The Complete Manual of Evacuation" forces you - in a fun way - to get out there and find out more about minorities.
The project is partly promenade theatre that takes place outside, but the interaction also continues online. Audiences post their reviews and impressions on the site after they have visited their Evacuation Points, and can even upload pictures. This feedback process and sharing is a vital part of the aim to make these hidden dimensions of Tokyo more visible.
Since only some of the website is bilingual, interested foreign participants would probably prefer to go directly to the Ikebukuro information point where English-speaking staff can assist you. Ask at the F/T Station for directions.
Participants already in the thousands, with hundreds daily broadcasting and sharing their experiences through social media like Twitter. Indeed, even at the end of the orientation event several of the group immediately chose Evacuation Points, printed off maps and went off to investigate!
The Complete Manual of Evacuation continues until November 28. To find our more, go to the project website.
By William Andrews