Shakespeare in Japan (review)

Gallimore, Daniel

doi:10.1353/atj.2007.0009

atj

2007

DOI: 10.1353/atj.2007.0009

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Shakespeare in Japan (review)

Daniel Gallimore¹

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2023

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“…It is plausible to say that publishing collections and books internationally, in English, on Shakespeare in Japan got hot in 1990s Shakespeare studies, fed by the prosperous 1980s, economic and cultural diplomacy, increased international travel and electronic media, the internationalisation of Japanese culture generally, and Shakespeare specifically. 14 Evidence of flourishing Shakespeare in, and from, Japan in the 1980s and 1990s includes the international success of the 'samurai' or 'Edo' Shakespeare of Akira Kurosawa and Yukio Ninagawa; 15 the 1988 opening of the Panasonic Globe in Tokyo; and the 1991 World Shakespeare Congress (WSC) in Tokyo. Titled 'Shakespeare and Cultural Traditions', the latter was the WSC's first meeting in Asia.…”

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Hot Shakespeare, Cool Japan: Editorial introduction

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2023

Cahiers Élisabéthains: A Journal of English Renaissance Studies

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This issue is titled 'Hot Shakespeare, Cool Japan', something Atsuhiko Hirota explores in his foreword. I reached for this title partly to avoid confusion with around a dozen existing works partly or wholly named 'Shakespeare in Japan' or 'Shakespeare in Contemporary [or Modern] Japan'. I wanted to capture something of Shakespeare's continuing, if fraught, presence in Japan. 'Hot' can mean attractive and appealing ('Shakespeare looks hot in the Cobb portrait'), as well as something 'difficult or awkward to deal with' ('Shakespeare's absence from his young family is a hot potato for biographers') or 'controversial or contentious' ('Shakespeare's future in Japanese classrooms is hotly debated'). 1 I also liked the promise of 'fresh' or 'exciting' takes that 'hot Shakespeare' captures. 2 It succinctly captures my own experience of teaching, researching, and watching Shakespeare as a Megumi visiting professor in the English Department at Kobe College during the academic year 2022-23, on loan from Bangor University. This involved lively conversations about both Shakespeare and Japan with students and colleagues as well as some literally hot sonnet readings and Shakespeare scavenger hunts, under the bright sun, in the campus's beautiful Shakespeare Garden. This opportunity rounded out a decade of shorter stays, involving a range of Japanese universities in Kantōand Kansai.'Cool' Japan structurally suggests a contrast with 'hot Shakespeare', but it is not quite an antonym for 'hot'; indeed, it is often used as a synonym meaning 'hip', 'stylish', and attractive. 3 'Cool Japan' invokes flows of influence between the two countries since products and experiences considered part of the 'Cool Japan' phenomenon are enjoyed by British Japanophiles, while Shakespeare has travelled back and forth between Japan and the United Kingdom in the form of texts, productions, and academics. Additionally, the phrase 'Cool Japan' draws on 'Cool Britannia', as Hirota explains in his foreword. 'Cool Britannia' and 'Cool Japan' both purportedly originated with cultural and economic commentators: in Britain during the late 1990s and in Japan in the midnoughties. 'Cool Britannia' became synonymous with New Labour's campaigns to celebrate the resurgence of Britain's cultural industries (Britpop music, art, and fashion) but, as that government declined and the 2008 financial crisis took hold, the phrase soured and

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Hot Shakespeare, Cool Japan: Editorial introduction

Olive

2023

Cahiers Élisabéthains: A Journal of English Renaissance Studies

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Shakespeare in Japan (review)

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Hot Shakespeare, Cool Japan: Editorial introduction

Hot Shakespeare, Cool Japan: Editorial introduction

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