Actor / Director / Performer / Producer
Communication Education Facilitator
Representative of Performance Unit “Senya-Niya”
Born January 11, 1979 (Age 47)
Maki Sakurai works as an actor, director, and performer across stage, film, and television. With the theme “Connecting Daily Life and Art,” he develops creative activities rooted in education, welfare, and local communities.
His work incorporates devising methods (creating without a script), acting techniques, drama therapy, coaching, and communication education. He conducts workshops and classes both in Japan and abroad.
In Fuchu City, Tokyo, he also offers community workshops that include mental and physical care.
Selected for the Japan Arts Council’s “Creator & Artist Development Program” (2024–2027).
Contact For performance, directing, or workshop inquiries
:goony39@gmail.com
Pumassi International Performing Arts Festival
“Come, Hold My Hand” (Korea)
2018
TYA Festival “Next Generation in Asia”Directed by Kenjiro Otani
About Senya-Niya
Founded in 2018
Representative: Maki Sakurai
Senya-Niya is a performance unit that blends theatre with physical expression, music, and diverse performance styles. The group values expression that emerges from “the person, the place, and the moment.”
Activities include:
Picture book–inspired creations
Devising-based productions
International co-productions
Works for children and projects created with children
Workshops incorporating acting, drama therapy, coaching, and communication education
The group aims to create spaces that nurture self-esteem and connect daily life with art.
In Fuchu City, they also conduct community workshops as registered instructors at the Fuchu City Citizen Activity Center “Platz.”
● Main Activities Citizen Activity Support Grant “Yell” Project (2021) “Let’s find your way of expressing yourself to live each day with joy!”
“A Certain Town’s Scenery”
Collaboration Festival Version
Planetarium Performance Version
2020 – “The Best Gift in the World” A free Christmas performance for children
2019 – Shoes and Life A short performance using shoes, presented from the perspective of the shoes(Short performance – 1 minute)
2019 & 2018 Creative project “Night on the Galactic Railroad (Light)” with children in Hanamaki
“Night on the Galactic Railroad (Light)”
2016 – Studio Ray Presents “The House of Building Blocks”
A storytelling and exhibition performance inspired by memorable objects from one’s own life
Workshop Activities
For Children
Pokapoka Kids Club (Ogikubo)
Mina Watoto (Creation / Outdoor Play × Wooden Blocks)
Communication education workshops in elementary & junior high schools
For Adults
Fuchu City Citizen Activity Center Platz
“From Nervous to Natural: Speaking Comfortably in Public”
Senya-Niya Workshops
“Mind, Body, and Expression Workshop”
“Exploring the Mechanisms of Body and Mind”
International Exchange Workshops
The Thursday Group (Australia)
Physical Workshop by Davide Doro
Asia TYA Network
“Let’s Talk with Friends in Asia”
Kansai Workshops
Sensu Theatre “Body Mechanics & Devising Creation Workshop”
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