Junji Kinoshita
Encyclopedia
was perhaps the foremost playwright of modern drama in postwar Japan. He was also a translator and scholar of the plays of Shakespeare.
, in 1939 and continued in school, then pursuing Elizabethan Theater History.
Many of his plays were based on Japanese folk tales, but he also created works set in contemporary Japan that deal with social questions. His better-known works that have been translated into English include Twilight Crane (夕鶴, Yūzuru), 1949; Wind and Waves (風浪, Fūrō), 1947; Between God and Man (神と人とのあいだ, Kami to hito to no aida), 1972; and A Japanese Called Otto (オットーと呼ばれる日本人、Ottō to yobareru nihonjin), 1962, Kinoshita's rendering of the Sorge
spy ring incident on the eve of World War Two.
In 1951 composer Ikuma Dan
used Kinoshita's Twilight Crane as the libretto for his opera Yūzuru
.
Life and Career
Kinoshita was born in Tokyo, son of a government official, Kinoshita Yahachiro, and his wife Sassa Mie. He attended school in the city until 1925 when his family moved back to their family home in Kumamoto in Kyusha. There he attended Kumomoto Prefectural Middle School and later went on to Kumamoto Fifth High School, where he received a degree equivalent to that of a western university. In 1936, he returned to Tokyo to attend the Imperial University and where he studied English literature. He graduated with a Masters Degree from University of TokyoUniversity of Tokyo
, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...
, in 1939 and continued in school, then pursuing Elizabethan Theater History.
Many of his plays were based on Japanese folk tales, but he also created works set in contemporary Japan that deal with social questions. His better-known works that have been translated into English include Twilight Crane (夕鶴, Yūzuru), 1949; Wind and Waves (風浪, Fūrō), 1947; Between God and Man (神と人とのあいだ, Kami to hito to no aida), 1972; and A Japanese Called Otto (オットーと呼ばれる日本人、Ottō to yobareru nihonjin), 1962, Kinoshita's rendering of the Sorge
Sorge
- Place names :* Sorge, Saxony-Anhalt in the district of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany* Rivers** Sorge in Schleswig-Holstein, tributary of the Eider** Sorge in Lausanne, tributary of Lake Geneva...
spy ring incident on the eve of World War Two.
In 1951 composer Ikuma Dan
Ikuma Dan
was a Japanese composer.- Biography :Dan was born in Tokyo, the descendant of a prominent family, his grandfather Baron Dan Takuma having been President of Mitsui before being assassinated in 1932. He graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1946...
used Kinoshita's Twilight Crane as the libretto for his opera Yūzuru
Yuzuru (opera)
, is a Japanese opera in one act composed by Ikuma Dan after the play of the same name by Junji Kinoshita.Ikuma Dan initially wrote incidental music for Kinoshita's play in 1949. Later, determined to transform the music into an opera, he approached Kinoshita who agreed to release the play under...
.
Theatre Productions
- 1946: Hikoichi-banashi (A Story of Hikoichi)
- 1947: Hata no oto (The Sound of the Loom)
- 1947: Sannen-ne Taro (Taro Who Slept for Three Years)
- 1947: Sammyaku (The Magic Hearing Cap), premiered at1947.
- 1948: Yuzuru (Twilight Crane)
- 1949: Yamanami (Over the Mountain Range), premiered at Mitsukoshi Theatre, Tokyo, Japan
- 1950: Kurai hibana (Dark Spark)
- 1952: Kaeru shoten (The Ascension of a Frog), premiered at Mitsukoshi Theatre, Tokyo, Japan
- 1953: Furo (Turbulent Waves), premiered at First Insurance Hall, Tokyo, Japan
- 1957: Onnyoro Seisuiki (The Rise and Fall of Onnyoro), premiered at Chiyoda Public Hall, Tokyo, Japan
- 1960: Onnyoro Seisuiki (The Rise and Fall of Onnyoro), revived as KabukiKabukiis classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
play at Shinbashi Enbujo Theatre, Tokyo, Japan - 1962: Otto to yobareru Nihonjin (A Japanese Called Otto), premiered at Sankei Hall, Osaka, Japan
- 1963: Okinawa, premiered at Sabo Hall, Tokyo, Japan
- 1964: Fuyu no Jidai (In the Age of Winter), premiered at Toyoko Hall, Tokyo, Japan
- 1967: Shiroi yoru no utage (Banquet in the White Night), premiered at Sabo Hall, Tokyo, Japan
- 1970: Shinpan (The Judgment) premiered at at Meitetsu Hall, Nagoya, Japan
- 1987: Natsu Nanpo no Romansu (Summer: A Romance on the South Sea) premiered at Season Theatre, Tokyo Japan
- 1978: Shigosen no matsuri ('The Meridian Rite), premiered a National Theatre, Tokyo Japan
Plays Published in English
- Kami to hito to no aida [comprises Shinpan and Natsu Nanpo no Romansu ] (published as Between God and Man: A Judgment on War Crimes; A Play in Two Parts), trans. Eric J. Gangloff, University of Washington Press, 1979.
- Yuzuru (published as Twilight Crane), trans. A. C. Scott in Playbook: Five Plays for a New Theatre, New Directions, 1956
- Omon Tota: A Folktale Play, translated by George Marshall Murphy, University Microfilms, 1979.
- Otto to yobareru nihonjin (published as A Japanese Called Otto), trans. Lawrence Rogers in Patriots and Traitors: Sorge and Ozaki, MerwinAsia, 2010.