Onigoro Valley (その先、鬼五郎渓谷につき、)

Synopsis

Inuzaki, a decontamination worker with a hidden past, finds himself entangled in a nightmarish journey through the haunted mountains of Fukushima. Alongside his brash colleague Kijimoto, he stumbles upon a mysterious bar run by seemingly innocent sisters and their father. As the night unfolds, the line between reality and folklore blurs, revealing a world where vengeful spirits, shape-shifting animals, and the ghosts of Japan’s nuclear disaster converge. Inuzaki must confront his own role in the region’s contamination and the price of survival in a land scarred by both natural and man-made catastrophes.

Saori Chiba’s play is a haunting blend of Japanese folklore and contemporary anxieties, weaving together themes of environmental destruction, displaced communities, and the lingering trauma of nuclear disaster. Through a dreamlike narrative that shifts between dark comedy and supernatural horror, Chiba explores the complex relationship between humans and nature, and the ways in which past sins echo through generations. The play’s non-linear structure and blending of reality and myth create a disorienting experience that mirrors the characters’ own confusion and guilt, forcing audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about progress, responsibility, and the cost of forgetting one’s roots.