Introduction: Shakespeare in Modern Japan

Abstract

In Newsletter sent from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Lisa Peter writes:As Shakespeare is generally considered one of the most English playwrights, it is quite astonishing that his plays travel so well. After all, why should, for example, the story of a Scottish king like Macbeth be of any relevance to people in India or in China?1In my view, the story of Macbeth is relevant to people in Japan. Akira Kurosawa's Kumonosu-jo [Throne of Blood], a world famous film adaptation of Macbeth, proves the relevance. Seeking the beauty of Noh in it, he succeeded in fusing Shakespeare and Japanese culture.Shakespeare, a globe-trotter, arrived in Japan in the middle of the nineteenth century when she promoted her rapid Westernization or modernization. To the Japanese, being modern meant having an economic system of industrial capitalism and a political system of liberal constitutionalism built up in the United States and European countries. Calling Shakespeare Sao affectionately, the Japanese accepted him as a cultural hero, and read translations of his works and saw his plays adapted for the Japanese stage.A notable feature of Shakespeare appropriation in the Meiji era (1868-1927) was to adapt his plays for Kabuki theatre, because hardly anyone had seen European drama. This method was highly effective to popularize Shakespeare and disseminate Western culture as well as to give the Japanese an opportunity to know things European. The Japan premiere of Shakespearean drama was Sakuradoki Zeni no Yononaka [The season of Cherrry Blossoms: The World of Money], an adaptation of The Merchant of Venice which was dramatized by Hikozo Katsu and performed by the Nakamura Sojuro Kabuki Company in 1885. In 1884 Shoyo Tsubouchi translated Julius Caesar in Joruri (ballad drama) style, using the Japanese native poetic form of seven-five syllable metre used in tanka, haiku, and the dramatic form of Kabuki and Noh. This was a free and loose translation, whose title was Shizaru Kidan: Jiyu no Tachi Nagori no Kireaji [Caesar's Strange Tale: Residual Sharpness of the Sword of Freedom].Tsubouchi, who brought out the Shakespearean canon in Japanese during the period from 1909 to 1928, was the first to give a serious consideration to what the Japanese should learn from Shakespeare and how contemporary Japanese drama should be improved by his dramaturgy. His motto was to interpret Shakespeare from Japanese standpoint and to try to perform his drama for the Japanese sake. His Shizaru Kidan and Udagawa's Sakuradoki may be the fountainhead of Kurosawa's film adaptations and Yukio Ninagawa's stage adaptations in the half of the twentieth century.In the late Meiji era there was an enhanced interest in shingeki (new drama) which deliberately cut off traditional dramatic forms in favour of an intellectual and realistic approach. Shingeki movement expressed opposition to the established stage, and there was a tendency among directors and actors to separate from Kabuki and classics. The members of the movement thought Noh and Kabuki were out of date, and wanted to Westernize the theatre world. Tsubouchi was the leader of a group of amateurs working for a more cultivated theatre. In 1906 he established the Bungei Kyokai (The Association of Literature and Arts) and threw his energy into the training actors and the improvement of drama. His faithful translation of Hamlet produced by the Bungei Kyokai in 1911 is considered as the first presentation of shingeki. But Tsubouchi disbanded the Bungei Kyokai in 1913. Therefore, Kaoru Osanai and Yoshi Hijikata founded the Tsukiji Shogekijo (little theatre) as the base of shingeki in 1924.In 1939 World War II started, and Shakespeare's drama became chiefly the object of a scholary study. After the war ended, Hijikata directed Shakespeare's plays for the public. In 1955 Tsuneari Fukuda directed his translation of Hamlet. This performance was an epoch-making event on the history of Shakespearean stage in Japan. …