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Paper short abstract

This paper examines the process by which Osanai Kaoru, a pioneer of modern Japanese theatre, changed his recognition of kabuki by way of his encounter with the Western theatre, in particular, the Moscow Art Theatre, the Ballets Russes, and Max Reinhardt.

Paper long abstract

Osanai Kaoru (1881–1928) is generally recognized as a pioneer of shingeki (modern theatre) in Japan. He paved the way for reforming the Japanese theatre, starting from the foundation of Jiyū Gekijō in 1909, which realized the first productions of Henrik Ibsen’s plays in Japan, to the inauguration of Tsukiji Little Theatre in 1924. The latter produced a number of newly translated Western plays. Through these activities Osanai succeeded in conceptualizing shingeki as an independent theater genre which resembled neither kabuki nor shimpa, a hybrid of kabuki and the Western theatre.

Osanai, however, cherished an extensive knowledge of kabuki and he never lost contact with it. His close friendship with kabuki actor Ichikawa Sadanji II eloquently tells such situation. In fact, Sadanji II became the co-founder of Jiyū Gekijō. Moreover, Osanai composed plays for kabuki and even directed them. Along with the enlightenment of shingeki, he continued to write reviews and critical essays on kabuki.

Based on these backgrounds, the present paper clarifies how Osanai’s recognition of kabuki evolved as a reflection of his encounter with the Western theatre. The turning point was his eight-month journey to Russia and Europe from 1912 to 1913; he saw the productions of the Moscow Art Theatre, the Ballets Russes, and the practice deriving from Max Reinhardt. He directly got in touch with the frontline of contemporary European theatre.

Such experience urged, as it seems, a fundamental change to his view of the Western theatre and kabuki as well; before the journey, Osanai criticized kabuki primarily from the dramaturgical concern, referring to Western playwrights such as Shakespeare. After the “event,” however, his critiques of kabuki increasingly focused on its visual elements such as make-up, costume color and stage design. Following Osanai’s writings on kabuki, we could see he envisioned a larger picture of shingeki than it was, which was not realized by his death. In his last days, kabuki, seemingly an old-fashioned exotic theatre, could be compatible with the Western avant-garde theatre.