Yu Shibuya, a rising writer/director for both the big screen and theater, believes in the redemptive power of narrative: "We don't really have to be reminded that humans are weak, or that we have the ability to commit violence," he told The Japan Times in a recent interview. "There's a place for that in storytelling, but not for me. I want to present what humans are capable of becoming."

Although his award-winning short films have screened around the world, Shibuya, 35, says his first love is the stage — and it's a love he'll be sharing this month when his third play, "The Three Sisters of the Kunitomi Family," opens in Tokyo. With a cast of 10, the play — which seamlessly interweaves flashbacks — focuses on the sisters' relationships over a 10-year span.

With this work, Shibuya said he set out to explore shifting values over time against the backdrop of a family drama — and to consider what it is "to see and be seen" in the tangled and often tearful hilarity of sisterly relationships.