Description
Book SynopsisThis is the first book to describe the way in which the traditional and modern forms of Japanese theater responded to Japan's defeat in World War II. It includes sixteen essays by thirteen specialists demonstrating the triumphs and tribulations of Japanese theater during the Allied Occupation, 1945–1952.
Trade ReviewThe great value of this book: it broadens our knowledge of a time of crises in Japanese theatre—a crisis taht mirros our view of the entire postwar Japan. * Asian Theatre Journal *
No review of this brevity can do complete justice to a study of this scope and variety....Leiter has done an admirable job stitching together more than a dozen essays covering a wide range of theatrical forms, from itinerant troupes of female kabuki actors to Takarazuka under the occupation....this book is a fascinating look at a dramatic chapter in Japan's turbulent postwar reconstruction when the theater offered solace to a public hungry for entertainment and direction. * The Journal of Japanese Studies *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Part 1: Kabuki Chapter 3 Chapter 1. From Bombs to Booms: When the Occupation Met Kabuki Chapter 4 Chapter 2. Playing for the Majors and the Minors: Ichikawa Girls' Kabuki on the Postwar Stage Chapter 5 Chapter 3. The Good Censors: Evading the Threat to Postwar Kabuki Chapter 6 Chapter 4. The Mitsukoshi Gekij?: The Little Theater That Could Chapter 7 Chapter 5. Performing the Emperor's New Clothes: The Mikado, The Tale of Genji, and Lèse Majesté on the Japanese Stage Part 8 Part 2: Other Traditional Theaters Chapter 9 Chapter 6. No and Kyogen during the Occupation Chapter 10 Chapter 7. Mitsuwa-kai versus Shochiku: Occupation Reforms and the Unionization of Bunraku Chapter 11 Chapter 8. Surviving and Succeeding: The Yuki-za Marionette Theater Company Chapter 12 Chapter 9. Laughter after Wars: Rakugo during the Occupation Part 13 Part 3: Modern Theater Chapter 14 Chapter 10. SCAP'S "Problem Child": American Aesthetics, the Shingeki Stage, and the Occupation of Japan Chapter 15 Chapter 11. From War Responsibility to the Red Purge: Politics, Shingeki, and the Case of Kubo Sakae Chapter 16 Chapter 12. A Fabulous Fake: Folklore and the Search for National Identity in Kinoshita Junji's Twilight Crane Chapter 17 Chapter 13. To the Rhythm of Jazz: Enoken's Postwar Musical Comedies Part 18 Appendix A. A Note on Kabuki Censorship: An Interview withJames R. Brandon Part 19 Appendix B. A Note on Kansai Kabuki Part 20 Appendix C. A Note on Takarazuka
