劇団無頼派 「今様聖書（モダン・バイブル）」FLR-005
Gekidan Buraiha 「Modern Bible」
- Originally self-released in only 100 copies in 1975
- Includes 12-page booklet with archival photos and new liner notes by subculture researcher Takeo Udagawa.
- Audio restoration by Michael Graves at Osiris Studio
- LP editions: “tip on” jackets, 400 on brown and transparent blue vinyl and 200 on black vinyl
- CD edition: 500 Mini LP
One of the most mythical and sought-after albums to come out Japan in the 70’s! Gekidan Buraiha was an underground theater company that self-released this monster of an acid folk album confronting the legacy of colonial rule, consumerism, and an overall sense of powerlessness shared among students in the mid-1970s. Made in 1975 and limited to only 100 copies, Modern Bible was only distributed to other theater companies and their cohorts and is now considered a holy grail by collectors around the world. Like a demon moving through time and space, Modern Bible invites you to a truly unique experience!
Notes & Context
Gekidan Buraiha was a theater company, a part of the so-called Angura scene that included notable troupes such as Tenjō Sajiki, led by Shūji Terayama; Jōkyō Gekijo, led by Jūrō Kara, Black Tent Theater (originally known as Theater Center 68), led by Makoto Satō; and Waseda Little Theater, led by Tadashi Suzuki.
Gekidan Buraiha began through the efforts of its main actor Kanna Ten (Minoru Takahashi) and his friends, who were all members of the same theater workshop at Kokugakuin University. It was the early ’70s, and the crew would frequently drop in at the rehearsal space occupied by Jūrō Kara’s Jōkyō Gekidan, essentially becoming part of the group’s support crew, and appearing on occasion as extras in their performances. Through this relationship, the workshop was able to obtain permission to stage their own production of Jūrō Kara’s drama The Glass Ensign. Although the troupe was only active between 1974 and 1976, they also staged two highly rated performances of their own plays I Saw the Rose of Destruction Last Night and The Commandment of Evil.
Originally made in 1975 and limited to only 100 copies, Modern Bible was only distributed to other theater companies and their cohorts and is now considered a holy grail by record collectors around the world. The album features 11 songs from their two plays, as well as two previously unrecorded songs from the aforementioned Jūrō Kara play The Glass Ensign.
Moderm Bible is monster of an acid folk album confronting the legacy of colonial rule, consumerism, and an overall sense of powerlessness shared among students in the mid-1970s in the wake of the “’68 Revolution.”
Reissued here on CD/LP for the very first time with never-seen-before archival photos and new liner notes by music writer Takeo Udagawa in both English and Japanese. The LP versions includes a 12-page booklet and the CD version includes two posterfolds. Audio restoration and mastering by five-time Grammy Award-winning engineer Michael Graves.
Like a demon moving through time and space to settle a score, Modern Bible invites you to a truly unique experience!
Excerpt from new liner notes by Takeo Udagawa
In the late 1960s the effects of the “’68 Revolution” rippled throughout the developed world. This came as a result of the coalescence of many agents of change, including the anti-Vietnam War movement, the hippie movement that arose in opposition to the consumerist lifestyle of capitalist society, and the rise of the student movement that rebelled against controlling university administrations and the academic-industrial complex.
In Japan during this time, a new theater movement began to emerge. Distinguishing itself from the commercialized theater establishment, the so-called Angura (an abbreviation of the Japanese pronunciation of “underground”) theater included notable troupes such as Tenjo Sajiki, led by Shuji Terayama; Jokyo Gekijo, led by Juro Kara, Black Tent Theater (originally known as Theater Center 68), led by Makoto Sato; and Waseda Little Theater, led by Tadashi Suzuki. Many of these troupes consisted of members who previously worked in student or commercial theater. Tenjo Sajiki was unique in that it arose without having any connection to the established theater world. In any case, these companies produced works that were deeply connected with the anti-establishment movement, the student movement and civic movements, in keeping with the spirit of the late ’60s to the early ’70s and resonating with the urban younger generation.
This first generation of small theater companies paved the way for the next wave, and among them was Gekidan Buraiha. Formed in 1974 and disbanded in 1976, Buraiha’s existence may have been brief, but the self-released album they left behind—Modern Bible—has become a highly sought after title among record collectors in recent years, and Gekidan Buraiha itself has attracted interest as a mythical entity of sorts from the second generation small theater boom.
Credits
Reissue produced by Johan Nilsson, Tyler Craft and Shinsaku Ikeshita
Audio restoration and mastering by Michael Graves at Osiris Studio
Thanks to Tony Manzella, Chris Svensson, Pontus Madsen, Shigenobu Harada and Makoto Inoue
Translations by Yosuke Kitazawa
Special thanks to the Juro Kara estate for licensing Cut Glass Star and Rumors Around Town
