Improlabo

Takashi Takao established Improlabo in September 2001 with the goal of creating a sustainable, self-reinforcing improv community in Tokyo. Inspired by Johnstone's principle of giving your partner a good time, Takao designed the organization so that participants would move through learning, performing, and eventually teaching within the same community. Yuumi Nakagomi joined as co-director in January 2002 and has remained central to the organization. Takao has maintained a direct connection to Johnstone's work, documenting and sharing detailed notes from international workshops including a 2019 Johnstone workshop in Vancouver. Improlabo occupies a distinctive position in the Tokyo scene as an institution organized primarily around pedagogy and long-term practitioner development rather than commercial performance.

Improlabo adheres closely to Keith Johnstone's improv methodology, with the principle of serving one's scene partner as a guiding ethos. The school format means performances are deeply integrated with training, and shows frequently feature students and teachers working alongside one another. The organization's experimental orientation, reflected in its name, treats each performance as an opportunity to investigate what improvisation can do rather than to deliver a fixed product.