Beside the Bustle (Circus) #1

Usaginingen (Usaginingen) is active with a family of 3: Shinichi Hirai, Emi Hirai, and Kainagi Hirai. They continue different practices in the same lifestyle, such as live performances, painting, sculpture, ceramics, and location management. In live performances, they use self-made video equipment and instruments, and combine images and performance, light and shadow, and machine movements on the spot. They went to Germany in 2010, began their activities in Berlin in 2011, and have performed in 30 countries so far. It won the Grand Prix at the Reykjavik Visual Music Festival in 2014, and in 2021, 38 performances were performed nationwide with a grant from the Agency for Cultural Affairs “AFF,” and in the same year, it was also used in an Apple Japan advertisement. The first museum exhibition was held at the Takamatsu Art Museum in 2026. It has been based in Teshima (Kagawa Prefecture) in the Seto Inland Sea since 2016. While they renovated the warehouse themselves and continued to perform as the “Teshima Usaginingen Theater,” they prepared unused land, built parks and fields, and created playground equipment with bamboo and driftwood. Currently, it operates the former infant home facility “ShinaiKan,” and in addition to accepting domestic and international artists to stay and produce, they also hold dinners, film screenings, and workshops. The old house adjoining the theater is called “usaginingen Kunsthaus,” and the building itself continues to be modified while actually being used.