Contemporary theatre group Faifai (previously called Koyubichi) was founded in 2004 by Yon Kitagawa who is frustrated with the repeating stale standards and norms set by others, seeking to extend new boundaries yet to be seen in theatre arts. They have since been active in the vibrant theatre scene of Tokyo, contributing with a unique perspective and atmosphere represented in their performances.
Faifai views the world with sarcasm and sensitivity, and presents its stories with humor and sympathy. The way they create their performances involves much experimentation and improvisation, resulting in a natural play revealing the personalities of the actors. Essentially, most of their pieces are concerned with love and relationships, human characteristics that are common around the world. On the other hand, they also often portray Japan-specific social phenomena, showing the society in a very critical, but at the same time non-hostile way in their unique humorous style. Even though the stories are mostly taken from the everyday life, the way of presentation makes them rich in content. Also, by creating movement and inserting dance scenes as well as sophisticated visuals and sound Faifai makes their plays very saturated esthetically too.
The group has been collaborating with artists from various fields of art, and created several space-specific performances. Even though Faifai is a very young company on the outset of its career, their activity has been followed by increasing awareness and popularity in Tokyo, and in 2007 their work has been awarded by Best Performance Award by the Oji Theatre. In the future, the group plans to expand their activities through experimenting with different arts, as well as collaboration and performances abroad.