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"Maimutou LIVE vol.33" regular solo performance held at the Waseda University Student Center in March 2025

There are approximately 500 officially recognized Waseda University student clubs. Student club members will introduce you to interesting topics such as what kind of activities they are involved in, their daily activities, presentations, and participation in tournaments.

Beginners are welcome! Learn how to use your body in a variety of ways
"Pantomime mai ☆ mu☆ tou"

Chief Secretary: Sakura  Kazu, 2nd year student, School of Culture, Media and Society

Pantomime mai☆mu☆tou (hereafter referred to as Maimutou) is the only pantomime (a performing art that uses only the body and facial expressions) student club at a Japanese university. Founded in 1985 by Happy Yoshizawa, a professional street performer, while he was still a student, the club has produced many street performers and artists. Currently, the club is active mainly in performances at the Waseda University Student Center twice a year and at WASEDASAI, and under the guidance of Happy Yoshizawa, they aim to provide high-quality performances.

In street performances, "invisible walls" and "immovable bags" are well-known, but actual pantomime involves a variety of techniques and expressions, such as making one's body look like a robot or an animal. Maimutou is an environment where club members can create the pantomime and performances they want to do. Maimutou has a wide range of reasons and interests for joining, such as a love of street performance, theater experience, or an interest in dance.

A photo from a street performance at WASEDASAI 2025

I joined Maimutou after I happened to see a Maimutou performance at a welcome event. When I first enrolled, I was only planning to join the drama student club, but when I heard from a member who was also in the drama student club that I could "learn the basics of expression," I decided to join Maimutou as well. Most student club members started as beginners, so even if you have no experience, you can easily participate.

2025 New Student Welcome PV

At Maimutou, we learn pantomime from the theory and how to use the body, so I think that it has been useful in theatrical expression, such as how to be aware of your core. It can also be used in various other fields of expression, and Maimutou alumni Yoshiaki Kyogoku (graduated from School of Creative Science and Engineering in 2003), who has worked on the anime "Yuru Camp△," and Kentaro Yoshifuji (also from the School of School of Creative Science and Engineering), are both active at the forefront of the field.

We were featured on the December 2024 broadcast of "I Got Stuck in a Swamp and Asked About It!" (NHK Educational Television)!

We are accepting new members throughout the year, except for the intensive training period in the month before the event. Participants can be from any grade, and we are also accepting trial lessons. If you want to try something new, why not join us?

[Official student club Information]
◆ Student club name: Pantomime mai ☆ mu ☆ tou
◆ Group classification: Student Association
◆ Year student club was founded: 1985
◆ Genre: Theater
◆ Activity date and time: Tuesday, Friday, Sunday 17:00-21:30
◆ Number of participants: 37 people
◆ Location of activities: Waseda University Student Center
◆ Website:https://maimutou.info/
◆Instagram:@my_mu_tou
◆ X:@maimutou