Art & Theatre

In Yushima Park, a corner of Kinosaki Onsen, the Kinosaki International Arts Center opened in 2014 as an artist-in-residence facility dedicated to the performing arts. Renovated from a former prefectural conference hall, it now houses a main hall, six studios, and residency accommodation for up to 22 artists.

Resident artists are selected through an annual open call and may stay from as little as three days to as long as three months, with free use of lodging, the hall and studios for those selected. Playwright and director Hirata Oriza became artistic director in 2015 and has since been a driving force behind Toyooka's "theatre-town" development.

Hirata Oriza, founder of the theatre company Seinendan and originator of the "contemporary colloquial theatre" method, deepened his ties to Toyooka after becoming KIAC's artistic director. He has since been involved with the Ebara Riverside Theatre in Toyooka's Hidaka district and the founding of the Professional University of Arts, Culture and Tourism, weaving together administration, education and the arts in the city's cultural policy. Early discussions of a "Kinosaki Onsen graduate school" concept are often cited as a forerunner of the university project.

A regional city facing population decline choosing theatre — rather than tourism marketing or factory attraction alone — as the core of its revitalization strategy has drawn national attention.

Held in tandem with KIAC's residency program, the Toyooka Theatre Festival turns theatres and public spaces across Kinosaki Onsen and central Toyooka into performance venues for Japanese and international companies. Local residents and volunteers play a visible role in running the festival, which is often cited as a model for blending tourism with contemporary performing arts.

Innkeepers and shopkeepers have been drawn into the effort as active participants, part of an ongoing collaboration between city government, artists and residents under the banner of "theatre-based town-making."