Many of Ishinha's productions are performed in Kansaiben (
Kansai dialect), although in fact there is usually very little dialogue. The dialogue is used in a rhythmic way, as much musical sounds as words. An Australian critic wrote: The theatre convention of dialogue also takes on a new meaning with Ishinha. The company borrows a little from traditional Kabuki theatre, in which lines are divided between performers (warizerifu), and staccato words delivered in a sing-song fashion. But Matsumoto pares back even further; single nouns are repeated and tossed, like balls, between performers. He's dubbed his own style of theatre "Jan Jan Opera", jan jan being an onomatopoeic term akin to crashbang. As opposed to typical script-based realist theatre, Yukichi Matsumoto's outlook has been influenced by his art studies at university of Surrealist painters like Dali. As can be seen in the mime-like and physical quality of their productions, dance is a strong element in an Ishinha production. The director has stated that the first thing he rehearses with the performers is body work and movement, even before the script has been written. However, there is no formal choreographer in the company. A journalist has written that: the troupe’s goal is neither to illustrate a story in a standard theatrical manner, nor to demonstrate the physical dexterity of a dance performance. Rather, Ishinha seeks to show audiences a bird eye's view of a fictional (or vanished) urban cityscape through large-scale, realistic stage designs that recreate entire townships. It has created a trilogy of works since 2007 on the theme of travel, including refugees and Japanese immigrants in South America and Eastern Europe. Key concepts in Ishinha's oeuvre and imagery are
roji (alley) and
haikyo (ruins). Matsumoto has said that, 'A “home” is something where there is a creator and an owner, but alley and ruins have neither creators nor owners...A city without scars is not a very interesting place.' == Works ==