This anthology is the first to survey the full range of modern Japanese drama and make available Japan's best and most representative twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century works in one volume. It opens with a comprehensive introduction to Meiji-period drama and follows with six chronological sections: "The Age of Taisho Drama"; The Tsukiji Little Theater and Its Aftermath"; "Wartime and Postwar Drama"; "The 1960s and Underground Theater"; "The 1980s and Beyond"; and "Popular Theater," providing a complete history of modern Japanese theater for students, scholars, instructors, and dramatists.
The collection features a mix of original and previously published translations of works, among them plays by such writers as Masamune Hakucho (The Couple Next Door), Enchi Fumiko (Restless Night in Late Spring), Morimoto Kaoru (A Woman's Life), Abe Kobo (The Man Who Turned into a Stick), Kara Juro (Two Women), Terayama Shuji (Poison Boy), Noda Hideki (Poems for Sale), and Mishima Yukio (The Sardine Seller's Net of Love). Leading translators include Donald Keene, J. Thomas Rimer, M. Cody Poulton, John K. Gillespie, Mari Boyd, and Brian Powell. Each section features an introduction to the developments and character of the period, notes on the plays' productions, and photographs of their stage performances. The volume complements any study of modern Japanese literature and modern drama in China, Korea, or other Asian or contemporary Western nations.
- Table of Contents
- Preface
- A Note on Japanese Names
- Introduction: The Prelude to Modern Drama in the Meiji Era (1868–1912), by Mitsuya Mori
- Part I. The Age of “Taisho Drama” by M. Cody Poulton
- Kerria Japonica, by Izumi Kyoka, Translated by M. Cody Poulton
- Father Returns, by Kikuchi Kan, Translated by M. Cody Poulton
- The Skeletons’ Dance, by Akita Ujaku, Translated by M. Cody Poulton
- Part II. The Tsukiji Little Theater and Its Aftermath by J. Thomas Rimer
- The Couple Next Door, by Masamune Hakucho, Translated by John K. Gillespie
- A Nero in Skirts, by Murayama Tomoyoshi, Translated by Yuko Matsukawa
- Paper Balloon, by Kishida Kunio, Translated by Richard McKinnon
- Fascist Doll, by Kubo Sakae, Translated by Yuko Matsukawa
- Restless Night in Late Spring, by Enchi Fumiko, Translated by Ayako Kano
- Japanese Women Playwrights: From Meiji to the Present, by Yoshie Inoue
- Part III. Wartime and Postwar Drama by J. Thomas Rimer
- A Woman’s Life, by Morimoto Kaoru, Translated by Guohe Zheng
- The Man Who Turned into a Stick, by Abe Kobo, Translated by Donald Keene
- Ceremonial Clothes, by Akimoto Matsuyo, Translated by Ganshi Murata
- Twilight Crane, by Kinoshita Junji, Translated by Brian Powell
- Education, by Tanaka Chikao, Translated by J. Thomas Rimer
- Part IV. The 1960s and Underground Theater by M. Cody Poulton
- The Little Match Girl, by Betsuyaku Minoru, Translated by Robert N. Lawson
- Two Women, by Kara Juro, Translated by John K. Gillespie
- Poison Boy, by Terayama Shuji, Translated by Carol Fisher Sorgenfrei
- The Dressing Room: That Which Flows Away Ultimately Becomes Nostalgia, by Shimizu Kunio, Translated by Chiyori Miyagawa and John K. Gillespie
- The Earth Station, by Ota Shogo, Translated by Mari Boyd
- Living with Father, by Inoue Hisashi, Translated by Zeljko Cipris
- Part V. The 1980s and Beyond by M. Cody Poulton
- Poems for Sale, by Noda Hideki, Translated by Mari Boyd
- Tokyo Notes, by Hirata Oriza, Translated by M. Cody Poulton
- The Attic, by Sakate Yoji, Translated by Leon Ingulsrud and Keiko Tsuneda
- Five Days in March, by Okada Toshiki, Translated by Aya Ogawa
- Part VI. Popular Theater by Mitsuya Mori
- Nihonbashi, by Izumi Kyoka, Translated by M. Cody Poulton
- The Rose of Versailles: A Takarazuka Grand Romantic Play, by Ueda Shinji, Translated by Kenko Kawasaki
- The Sardine Seller’s Net of Love, by Mishima Yukio, Translated by Laurence R. Kominz
- Selected Bibliography
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