Company EAST, the “fragrance of the Orient”, has received acclaim and standing ovations for performances of Euripides' Medea in Greece and Cyprus during three separate tours.

The Takagi Noh-style production, using the natural environment instead of artificial sets, is praised for infusing Medea with the spirituality of the East. The Company itself is applauded as Japan's newest company realizing the unity of dance, drama, and spoken word informed by contemporary Noh and New Kabuki, while remaining faithful to the origins of the Greek theater.

Hiroshi Jin, as Medea,
and artistic director/producer/choreographer Kenji Kawarasaki fuse Japanese dance theater with Western dance drama style. Company EAST, led by Jin, an actor and dancer trained in the theater arts of the West, and artistic director Kawarasaki, takes pride in taking the lead in creating and introducing to the world a new Japanese and Eastern artistic culture that sublimates the values of both East and West.

Company EAST productions are created with this kind of new development in global dance theater as a goal.

In 1999 Company EAST participated in the Japan-Greece Friendship Centennial promoting international artistic exchange as a representative of Japan, and was the first Asian theater company to perform at the ancient amphitheater and world heritage site in Cyprus, winning wide acclaim with their production of Medea.
The Company was awarded a testimonial commending its achievement in “contributing to better mutual understanding and friendship between Japan and the world,” presented by the former Ambassador to Greece and chairman of the Japan-Greece Friendship Centennial committee to Yoshifumi Seo, the Company's producer.

In 2001, Company EAST participated in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, and was awarded the Scotsman 5 Stars for their production of Medea, as well as a four-star rating in the major British newspaper, The Guardian.

In the years following, Company EAST has performed Medea to wide acclaim in Australia, France, and Canada, while also daring to produce MacBeth, in English, at the 2003 Edinburgh Festival.
In 2004, Company EAST's Salome was selected for front page coverage by Scotland's largest newspaper, the Scotsman.

And in 2007, Company EAST performed Medea in New York's La MaMa Annex of La MaMa Experimental Theater, without question making another significant contribution to the cultural exchange between Japan and the West.