Rising from the Flames The Rebirth of Theater in Occupied Japan, 1945-1952

by Leiter, Samuel L.; Boyd, Mari; Edelson, Loren; Sorgenfrei, Carol Fisher; Fukushima, Yoshiko; Hibino, Kei; Jortner, David; Kagaya, Shinko; Pringle, Patricia; Shores, Matthew W.; Wetmore, Kevin J., Jr.; Zheng, Guohe

• ISBN13: 9780739128183
• ISBN10: 0739128183
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-09-24
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

On August 15, 1945, when World War II ended, almost all of Tokyo and Osaka's theaters had been destroyed or heavily damaged by American bombs. The Japanese urban infrastructure was reduced to dust, and so, one might have thought, would be the nation's spirit, especially in the face of nuclear bombing and foreign occupation. Yet, less than two weeks after the atomic bombs had been dropped, theater began to show signs of life. Before long, all forms of Japanese theater were back on stage, and from death's ashes arose the flower of art.

Author Biography

Samuel L. Leiter is Distinguished Professor of Theater Emeritus, Brooklyn College, Cuny, and the Graduate Center, CUNY.

Table of Contents

Tables	p. ix
Theater and Troupe Names	p. xi
Preface	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
Kabuki
From Bombs to Booms: When the Occupation Met Kabuki	p. 11
Playing for the Majors and the Minors: Ichikawa Girls' Kabuki on the Postwar Stage	p. 75
The Good Censors: Evading the Threat to Postwar Kabuki	p. 89
The Mitsukoshi Gekij&obar;: The Little Theater That Could	p. 109
Performing the Emperor's New Clothes: The Mikado, The Tale of Genji, and Lèse Majesté on the Japanese Stage	p. 125
Other Traditional Theaters
N&obar; and Ky&obar;gen during the Occupation	p. 175
Mitsuwa Kai vs. Sh&obar;chiku: Occupation Reforms and the Unionization of Bunraku	p. 185
Surviving and Succeeding: The Y&ubar;ki-za Marionette Theater Company	p. 217
Laughter after Wars: Rakugo during the Occupation	p. 231
Modern Theater
SCAP's "Problem Child": American Aesthetics, the Shingeki Stage, and the Occupation of Japan	p. 259
From War Responsibility to the Red Purge: Politics, Shingeki, and the Case of Kubo Sakae	p. 279
A Fabulous Fake: Folklore and the Search for National Identity in Kinoshita Junji's Twilight Crane	p. 317
To the Rhythm of Jazz: Enoken's Postwar Musical Comedies	p. 335
Appendixes:
A Note on Kabuki Censorship: An Interview with	p. 361
A Note on Kansai Kabuki	p. 371
A Note on Takarazuka	p. 381
Index	p. 391
About the Contributors	p. 427
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