The latter half of the show is done in an active funny circle

(This article is based on an original story by Hirao Takao, translated and edited by David Tharp)

At the end of the clown show, a little girl came into the circle. “Although I was scared, I was encouraged by the happy voices of my friends,” she said. “I reached for the soap bubbles made by the clown and I danced. I was really sad when the time came for him to leave.”

The visits of clowns to hospitals or other institutions inspire the healing power of laughter and humor. On July 30th, the “Treasure Box” clown group visited a children’s day care center in Chiba with an American clown to invoke the power of this kind of entertainment.

The NPO "Theater Planning Network," with the support of The Nippon Foundation, invited the American clown performer Moshe Cohen (54) to Japan to perform in five different institutional settings.

A young volunteer assistant helps Cohen during the show

The word “clown” originated in the 17th century from the word “clod,” and the sad pierrot was one version of the European development of clowns.

Cohen established an organization in the U.S. in 1995 called “Clowns Without Borders,” which visited conflict areas and places affected by natural disasters to entertain people and encourage young people to develop their own ideas of clowning.

Kaori Nakagawa of the Theater Planning Network

Cohen’s clown does not usethe traditional white painted face or red nose. Rather, his clown character springs from the natural humor of the human mind.

His Chiba children’s day care center show started at 1PM in the afternoon. About 10 children with "hikikomori" social withdrawal syndrome gathered to watch coin tricks and a disappearing red ball game.

Then came a game which called on young assistants to hold inflated vinyl bags that flew around the room when released. Two or three of the kids in the audience jumped into the circle to play, and broke into loud singing of their own songs. Picking up on their cue, Cohen took up the rhythm of the song and started humming it, turning in it into the back ground music of the next scene in the show. This brought laughter and cheers from everyone present.

Ten minutes before the end of the show, even those who had earlier refused to join in the fun got up to dance when music was played and everyone started dancing together in a circle. Any barriers that had existed until that point were eliminated.

When the time came for Cohen the clown to make his exit, all the kids gathered around and thanked him for the show.

One of the children center’s staff happily said that usually the kids rarely utter a sound, but Cohen had got everyone to at least hum to the music and sing little songs. It was a lot more than she had expected from the event.

Cohen said it was a special time for him too. He mentioned that there was one little girl who was withdrawn in the beginning and how toward the end of his performance her energy level changed completely. He said everyone became involved with the event. He was encouraged by the fact that he felt laughter and fun remove barriers.

The Theater Planning Network’s main purpose is to explore ways of using educational drama and acting in order to deepen people's participation in society and life.

One of the organization’s representatives, Kaori Nakagawa, who arranged the Cohen's visits to five centers, said the humor of the clowning experience allows people to go beyond the script of drama and acting and discover and grasp a different sense of self.

“At every place we visited there was a great sense of joy. I really felt the power of clowning,” said Nakagawa. “This is a very valuable tool to make people feel better in social welfare work. Now we must analyze how we can use this more,” she said.