The Japan Society Review 65
Book, Stage, Film, Arts and Events Review

Issue 65 Volume 11 Number 5 (October 2016)

In June we celebrated the launch of Britain and Japan:
Biographical Portraits, Volume X, the latest addition to a
25-year project documenting the lives of those involvedin the development of the UK-Japan relationship. Volume
X brings the count of these ‘pen-portraits’ up to over
six-hundred, and is dedicated to all those who havecontributed to the series; as Sean Curtin comments in
his review, the writing of a biographical portrait has itself
become something of a rite of passage for those at theheart of the relationship today. Volume X boasts sixty-nine
chapters, and as such it is impossible to cover them all.
Instead Curtin presents a selection that gives a sense ofboth the full breadth of the relationship and the book.
Shakespeare is arguably Britain’s most significant
cultural export, and as such it is no surprise that he has
figured prominently in Anglo-Japanese relations (there arebiographical portraits of a number of Japanese directors,
actors, translators and academics celebrated for theirwork on Shakespeare). As part of the country-wide festival
marking the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death, theJapan Society was delighted to collaborate with the Globe
Theatre in an event considering the reception history of
Shakespeare in Japan, reviewed here by Susan Meehan.
Sōseki Natsume famously questioned Shakespeare’s
relevance to a Japan where existential dilemmas did not
dominate thinking in the same way as in the West. In thesame vein, Shiraishi Kazufumi has suggested that his Me
Against the World might be better suited to Westernreaders. In her review Poppy Cosyns confirms that thecelebrated novelist’s latest work is nothing if not existential
in its critique of what he sees as the uplifting platitudes
relied upon in the face of disaster and terror.
Also reviewed here are crime fiction giant Matsumoto
Seichō’s final work, and former diplomat Ogura Kazuo’s
survey of Japanese diplomacy in Asia.
As ever, the Japan Society is extremely grateful toall of its reviewers for giving up their time and expertise.
Anyone interested in contributing to the Review should
contact the Japan Society office.
William Upton

Contents
1)

Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits, Volume X editedby Sir Hugh Cortazzi

2)

A Quiet Place by Matsumoto Seichō3)Japan’s Asian Diplomacy: A Legacy of Two Millennia by
Ogura Kazuo

4)

Me Against the World by Shiraishi Kazufumi

5)

Hamlet and Japan: An Evening of Talks and Performances

EditorWilliam Upton
Reviewers
Sir Hugh Cortazzi, Poppy Cosyns, Sean Curtin, Harry Martin and Susan Meehan(Image: Anon, Jurui shinzu (True pictures of animal types), collectionof earlier hang-painted images compiled c. 1830. British Library.)

Britain and Japan:
Biographical Portraits,
Volume X
edited by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
Renaissance Books in association
with the Japan Society (2016)
ISBN-13: 978-1-898823-51-3
Review by Sean Curtin

Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits, Volume X
marks a new high point in this excellent series profilingpeople, organizations and themes related to AngloJapanese engagement. This new volume is burstingwith energy, containing sixty-nine fascinating articles
encompassing a breathtaking spectrum of subject
matter. It also represents the largest volume in the series
to date. The key standard bearers, Sir Hugh Cortazzi,
Ian Nish, Jim Hoare, Gordon Daniels and Paul Norbury,
who have each devoted over twenty-five years todeveloping this impressive endeavour since the first
volume in 1994, all contribute to this new volume. Its
publication also marks a significant milestone in the
project’s evolution with the Biographical Portraits
series now available to access online, making it anincredibly useful global resource.
As in previous editions, the majority of profiles areof individuals, covering an ABC to XYZ of professions
and vocations, in this volume ranging for example from
authors (Peter Martin by Mike Barrett), broadcasters(John Newman by Ian Ruxton), and consuls (JohnFrederick Lowder by Jim Hoare) to [E]xeter (Archdeacon
Hutchinson by Hamish Ion), yachtsmen and zoologists(Alan Owston by Mike Galbraith). There are a number of
unusual professions and vocations which particularlycaught my eye, such as the snow scientist Nakaya
Ukichirō, profiled by Jenny White, the Buddhist idealist
Takakusu Junjirō described by Iwagami Kazunori andParide Stortin, and netsuke collectors bought to life
by Rosemary Bandini. As with earlier volumes, nosingle review could possibly do this work justice as its
sheer scope and content are too immense. With thiscaveat, here are some of my observations on the latest
instalment in this prestigious series.
The English maritime pilot William Adams
provided the promethean spark for Anglo-Japaneserelations, arriving in Kyushu in 1600 when his Dutch ship
Liefde foundered. The first official British ship to reachJapan, The Clove under Captain John Saris, arrived in
Nagasaki in June 1613. This short-lived chapter ended
in 1623 with the closure of the British outpost in Hirado
2

and the subsequent period of Japanese isolationism.
There was scant direct contact between the twocountries for 230 years until the arrival of Admiral
Stirling in Nagasaki in 1853. However, there weresome largely forgotten efforts to penetrate Japan’s
exclusion. Two such endeavours are highlighted in
the book’s first two essays, each by Professor Timon
Screech. One charts the October 1808 brief incursion
by HMS Phaeton under the command of Fleetwood
Pellew and the other describes the frustrated attempts
by Sir Stamford Raffles to open trading relations bysending missions to Nagasaki in 1813 and 1814. (Aspart of this attempt, Sir Stanford atempted to present
a breading pair of elephants to Tokugawa Ienari. The
female died in Nagasaki, while the male was declined
because of ‘difficulty to transport’. This issue’s coverimage is an anonymous coloured sketch of the bull.)Both articles enhance our historical understanding of
how the bilateral dynamic developed.
One of the unique features of the BiographicalPortraits series is that it not only covers well-known
historic figures, but also illuminates the lives of
those at the coal face of Anglo-Japanese relations,
without whom the relationship would not be sostrong, prosperous and beneficial. One such early
figure is William Henry Smith (1838–’84) whose life
is researched by Mike Galbraith. Smith first arrived inJapan as a Royal Marines officer in charge of the British
legation guard; upon leaving the service he decided tostay in Japan, pursuing a wide variety of occupations.
He became known in Yokohama as ‘public-spirited
Smith’ for his contribution to the local community.
I was fascinated by the 1907 motoring adventuresof Thomas Bates Blow (1853–1941), the subject of anentertaining essay by Ian Chrystie. He charts Blow’s
arduous journey from Kyoto to Karuizawa on roads‘with hairpin corners which are so sharp that the
car would not go round without reversing’. Such
conditions seem unimaginable in today’s car-oriented
Japan. Blow lived in Kyoto, owning the very first
automobile in the city, a 1904 7 HP Swift. There’s anamazing photo on page 111 taken in 1904 of Blow andhis wife in the car outside the Yasaka (Gion) shrine. A
reproduced letter written to Motoring Illustrated in
November 1907 records the numerous challenges of
early motoring in Japan.
At the other end of the scale are more public
figures like the MP Ernest Harold Pickering (1881–1957) who Peter O’Connor labels an ‘honourable
and convinced but unconvincing apologist forJapan’ because of his ‘uncritical admiration of Japan
Issue 65 Volume 11 Number 5 (October 2016)and almost wholesale acceptance of her political
economy.’ Several other more distinguished politicians
are covered in this volume by Robert Morton, Andrew
Cobbing, Thomas Otte and Anthony Best. The Pickering
essay certainly illustrates the need for skilled diplomats
on both sides.
British diplomats are well covered in this volume.
Jim Hoare looks at the career of Sir Edward Crowe(1877–1960), a forgotten star of the Japan service,
who was a diligent and efficient officer specializing incommercial work. He eventually became permanent
secretary to the board of overseas trade in London.
Hugo Read depicts the life of another faded diplomaticstar, Oswald White (1884–1970), while Ian Nish looks atthree consuls in Manchuria. Robert Cooper assesses Sir
Fred Warner, who was Britain’s ambassador to Japan
from 1972 to ’75 during which time the Queen andthe Duke of Edinburgh paid a state visit in 1975. Sir
Fred was certainly a colourful personality who greatly
enjoyed his posting to Japan, a country where hehad not previously served. His successor, Sir Michael
Wilford, ambassador from 1976 to ’80 – a period ofsome trade friction – is portrayed by Sir David Warren,
himself ambassador from 2008 to ‘12. Sir Michael had
served in China but like Sir Fred was no Japan specialist.
In contrast to these two earlier predecessors Sir JohnWhitehead, ambassador from 1987 to ‘92, spent muchof his diplomatic service life in Japan. His achievements
are detailed by Sir Hugh Cortazzi, himself ambassador
from 1980 to ‘84, who says of Sir John, ‘He brought
experience, dedication and zeal into his efforts to findsolutions to the trade and investment issues, whichwere key features of his years as ambassador, but he
did not neglect the important cultural aspects of ourrelations.’
Japanese diplomats are also well represented with
Seki Eiji, a former Japanese ambassador to Hungary,
exploring the fascinating career of Fujiyama Naraichi(1915–’94) whose final post was as Japan’s ambassador
to the UK from 1977 to ‘82. The achievements of
Chiba Kazuo (1925–2004), who was ambassador to
the UK from 1988 to ‘91, are highlighted by Sir HughCortazzi, who also offers some personal insights. In an
in depth and well researched article, ‘Young Japanese
Diplomats Sent to Study at British Universities’,
Numata Sadaaki, who was Japan’s ambassador to
Canada (2004 to ‘07), provides a fascinating historical
overview ranging from the first Japanese student
diplomat, Mutsu Hirokichi who studied at Cambridgein 1888, to the present day. Numata also reminds us of
the impressive academic achievements of the brilliant
Latest reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/resources/reviews/

young diplomat Owada Masako, who studied at Balliol
College, Oxford from 1988 to ‘90 reading international
relations before entering the diplomatic service. Her
promising diplomatic career ended in 1993, when she
married the Crown Prince, who also studied at Oxford,
and entered the imperial household.
There are so many interesting lives illuminated inthis volume. I enjoyed Joseph Cronin’s piece on BasilHall Chamberlain, a high profile early Japan scholar
and writer. Cronin examines his hostility towards
state Shinto and the cult of bushido. Kayama Haruno
provides a fascinating account of the popularity intoday’s Japan of many British Victorian novelists suchas Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens and both Charlotte
and Emily Bronte. While Christian missionaries fromBritain were only moderately successful in Japan, they
were a significant factor in the early British presencefrom the Meiji period up to the outbreak of World War
II and therefore have been profiled in almost every
Biographical Portraits publication. In this volume
Hamish Ion looks at Charles Frederick Warren, Barclay
Fowell Buxton and Archibald Campbell Hutchinson.
Women are also well represented with interestingarticles on the fascinating lives of Yasui Tetsu (1870–
1945), early promoter of women’s higher education,
by Tomida Hiroko, Marianne North (1836–’90) by
Karato Tadashi, Lisa, Lady Sainsbury (1912–2014) byNicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, and Dorothy Britton(Lady Bouchier, 1922–2015) by Sir Hugh Cortazzi andPaul Norbury. Other enjoyable profiles are penned by
Ayako Hotta-Lister, Gordon Daniels, Richard Bowring,Peter Kornicki, Morita Norimasa and Dharini Parekh.
It’s not just people who are the subject of
portraits; many entities and themes are also covered.
For example Peter Ackroyd looks at ‘Wool in Japan’describing how this traditional British product fought
off strong local competition to maintain its poleposition in the Japanese market. The British Chamberof Commerce (Japan), vividly described by former
director Ian de Stains, is an institution which has given
invaluable support to British firms in Japan and assists
efforts to penetrate the Japanese market. Its Japanesecounterpart in the UK, the Japanese Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (JCCI), is profiled by Patrick
Macartney, and Paul Madden looks at the British
Pavilion, Aichi Expo 2005. There is a diverse variety ofportraits in the Business, Trade and Investment section
by Clive Bradley, Nakajima Yuuichiro, Peter Woodland,
Noguchi Yoshio, Martin Edelshain, Ivor Cohen andPeter Bacon. Groups are also covered, such as English
lawyers in Japan by Tony Grundy, early British judges
3

in Japan by Christopher Roberts and the UK-Japan 21stCentury Group by Marie Conte-Helm. Other enjoyable
portraits of organisations and groups are penned
by Kamide Mayu, Koyama Noboru, Colin Ellis, Mary
Redfern and Libby Horner. Gill Goddard also deserves
praise for producing an excellent bibliography.
Of the organizational portraits, I enjoyed thetwo articles on the JET (Japan English Teachers)
programme by its visionary conceptual progenitor
Nicolas Maclean and Japan scholar Graham Healey.
JET and its British antecedent the Wolfers’ scheme,
have greatly contributed to forging strong Japan-UK
people-to-people relations, creating better mutual
understanding between the two countries andimproving English language teaching in Japan. They
have allowed tens of thousands of young people to go
to Japan and discover it at a local level via its schools,
many in rural locations. In the early years many ofthese JETs were the first foreigners to live in the
town or village to which they were dispatched. Someparticipants have stayed on in Japan, while others haveshined in Japan-related or completely different fields.
In their respective articles Healey and Maclean
describe the mechanics of the JET scheme, how it
evolved, and review its overall impact. According
to Healey the JET Programme is ‘the world’s largest
people-exchange programme’ with so far more than
60,000 young people from over forty countries having
participated. The programme in its present form wasestablished in 1987 as a joint venture between Japan’sequivalent of the Home Office and the Foreign Office(ministry of foreign affairs). JET’s creation resulted in it
absorbing two much smaller pre-existent programmes,
the American-oriented Monbusho English Fellows(MEF), which itself was derived from the Fulbrightprogramme and ran from 1977 to ‘86, and its UK
counterpart the British English Teachers Scheme (BETS)
or the Wolfers scheme which ran from 1978 to ‘86. A
number of those involved with JET’s creation, like Sir
Hugh Cortazzi, as well as former participants, are also
key contributors to the Biographical Portraits series.
Including Volume X and its sister publications,some six-hundred portraits have now been produced.
This is an impressive achievement, and makes thisunique and growing series a valuable reference
resource. While the first volume of the BiographicalPortraits series came out in 1994, if you combine its
sister publications, it forms a fifteen-volume project
stretching back 25 years. The entire enterprise has
been built thanks to an army of dedicated, unpaid
writers and researchers who have tirelessly given their
4time and energy to create this impressive body ofwork, which can now be accessed online thanks to thesterling efforts of the Japan Society.
Sir Hugh Cortazzi, who has been involved withall of the publications as either an editor, compiler,
contributor or any combination of the three, has
become the driving-force behind the project. He has
been greatly assisted by Ian Nish (editor, volumes
I and II), Jim Hoare (editor, volume III) and Gordon
Daniels who co-edited its sister publications. This
steadfast core and their fantastic cohort of energetic
contributors has been able to carry the projectsuccessfully forward over the past quarter of a century
thanks to the generous support and assistance given
by Stephen McEnally and Mike Barrett and theircolleagues at the Great Britain-Sasakawa Foundation,
Paul Norbury and his dedicated publishing staff andRobert Guy and Heidi Potter and the innovative teamat the Japan Society. In the last decade, contributing
a biographical portrait also appears to have become
something of a rite of passage for anyone who wishes
to demonstrate their commitment to Anglo-Japaneserelations. This new volume, which is dedicated to allcontributors, demonstrates that this enterprise is set tothrive and develop over the coming decades.§A Quiet Placeby Matsumoto Seichō
Bitter Lemon Press (2016)
ISBN-10: 1908524634
Review by Harry Martin
Only a handful of Matsumoto
Seichō’s works have yet
made it into English, and yet
fledgling entrants to the worldof Japanese crime fiction willsoon come to realise that prior to discovering his
prolific output they have been paddling only within
the smaller tributaries of the genre, oblivious to thisgreat river which flows with powerful currents ofnational sentiment and a cult following. I have been
shamed by Japanese friends and colleagues forallowing this revered author to remain so long outside
my consciousness.
A Quiet Place (Kikanakatta basho) was the last of
Matsumoto’s novels to be published and at 228 pages
is by no means a lengthy or arduous undertaking.
The story begins with a hardworking and dedicatedIssue 65 Volume 11 Number 5 (October 2016)

government official receiving the news of his wife’s
untimely death while he is away on a business trip in
Kobe. This is followed by the proceeding twists andturns of the grieving husband’s own investigationand pursuit of the truth. Spurred on largely by theprotagonist’s paranoid and obsessive nature, thereader is led through a somewhat formulaic process ofconspiracy, intrigue and discovery, typical of the crime
fiction genre; a cast of mysterious and stimulating
characters and cryptic undertones make for an
enjoyable journey.
However, what I found interesting about
Matsumoto’s writing is that he does not focus theattention of the narrative on investigatory or judicial
procedures. Rather the narrative centres on the wider
context of Japanese society and social psychology,
with Matsumoto scrutinising social norms and day-today interactions and relationships in routine life.
The story provides an insight into the layersof duty and social obligation (giri) found in many
aspects of Japanese society, from spousal relationships
to interactions with corporate and governmentorganisations. Matsumoto presents a bountiful array of
examples, amplifying the complexities and intricaciesof this social phenomenon. For example, at the
opening of the story the bereaved husband, moments
after hearing of his wife’s death, seems to concern
himself only with resolving the embarrassment andinconvenience caused to his superiors. This extreme
example of giri really opened my eyes to the potentiallycrippling nature of this sense of obligation.
The theme of giri plays a recurring and importantfunction in the writing, dominating multiple
interactions among the characters and essentiallydriving the story forward. The often extreme andhyperbolic nature of the main character’s moral
conflicts are, at times, comical and made me feel apossibly nihilistic scepticism at play in Matsumoto’s
critique of social norms.
Overall this is a compelling crime thriller witha captivating storyline and interesting characters,
providing an enjoyable and effortless read, offering an
insight into Japanese social-politics. I feel this book has
much to offer to all crime fiction aficionados, but forme it opened a door into a world of an extraordinary
author and personality, who should be on the radar of
any fan of Japanese literature.§

Japan’s Asian
Diplomacy: A Legacy of
Two Millennia

He suggests that ‘our perspective should address thequestion of how the nation of Japan perceives itself.’
In his opening chapter on ‘The Ethos of Japan’s
Asian Diplomacy’ he draws attention to the conceptof ‘Japan as the “divine land”’ and discusses Nichiren’s
famous Rissho ankoku ron (A Treatise on Pacifying theState by Establishing Orthodoxy, 1260) as contributing
to the creation of the divine land ideology. He argues
that insufficient attention has hitherto been given to
the importance of Japan’s internal politics and domestic power struggles in relation to the development ofJapanese foreign policy in Asia.
Part I is entitled the ‘Fundamentals of Japan’s
Asian Diplomacy’. In this Ogura stresses the role andinfluence of ‘shared values’ in the formulation of policy, both in the early Japanese relationship with China
and in the modern era in response to modernization,colonialism and in the postwar period to democracy
and human rights. He describes Japan’s response to
the ‘Yellow Peril’ jibes, concluding that in the AngloJapanese alliance ‘by making itself an ally of a “white”
nation Japan strove to leave Asia and the “yellow race”
behind.’ The rejection of Japan’s proposal for racialequality to the League of Nations followed by thecondemnation by the League of Japan’s invasion ofby Ogura Kazuo
LTCB International Library
Trust / International Houseof Japan (2015)
ISBN-13: 978-4-924971-39-4
Review by Sir Hugh Cortazzi
Ogura Kazuo, who is a
graduate of both Tokyo and Cambridge universities,
served as Japanese ambassador to Vietnam, Korea
and France before becoming president of theJapan Foundation. He currently holds professorial
appointments at universities in Japan.
In this masterly survey Ambassador Ogura looks
at Japan’s relations with China and Korea since theearliest recorded times. He notes that previous studies have concentrated on the aggressive ideologyof the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere and‘Pan-Asianism’ as an ideology of resistance to Western colonialism, an idea he problematises in this work.

Latest reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/resources/reviews/

5Manchuria can, he thinks, be seen as contributing to‘Japan’s strategy of aggression in Asia’. He considers it‘a mistake to interpret Pan-Asianism simply as a varietyof anti-Westernism’.
Ogura is sharply critical of the way Japan often
handled relations with China. In presenting the infamous Twenty-One Demands in 1915, Japan’s ‘overbearing attitude’ was ‘threatening’ and ‘involved repeated verbal insults to the Chinese’.
In Chapter Two, entitled ‘The Interaction of Domestic and Foreign Policy’, he discusses ‘the diplomacy
of apology as recognition diplomacy’. He concludes
that ‘If Japan wishes to be fully recognized by the othercountries of Asia as an unquestioned economic leader
and an established democracy, it must first of all clearly
acknowledge the fact that in the past it trampled upon
both democracy and liberty in Asia, and does indeed
feel remorse for these actions’. He then lists the apologies made in recent years by Japanese leaders.
Ogura draws attention to the influence that ‘considerations of honor and “face”’ have in Asian diplomacy. His paragraphs on ‘initiation of diplomatic contact– who invites whom’, ‘mutuality and equality’, ‘maintaining prestige’, and ‘Diplomatic face in the contemporary world’ should be read by all diplomats dealing
with Asian affairs, but they should also bear in mind
that these considerations apply to other areas as well.
Part II is entitled ‘Foreign Relations of Japan, China, and Korea in Historical Perspective’. Chapter Threeon ‘The History of Seikanron Thought’ provides a valu-

able and succinct survey of Japan’s relations with Korea from the earliest times to the annexation. In thishe discusses the second Anglo-Japanese alliance andits role in relation to Korea. He asserts that ‘the establishment of Japanese interests in Korea was founded
upon a deal involving Japanese support for British rulein India – a strategic balance of interests’. ‘Japan’s aggressive foreign policy towards Korea was accepted by
the Western powers, and Japan’s Asian diplomacy wasin fact a diplomacy oriented toward the Western nations – Asia was reduced to little more than its instrument.’
Chapter Four is entitled ‘Two Millennia of SinoJapanese History: Five Wars and their Antecedents’.
In this chapter Ogura reminds his readers of the complex history of Japanese contacts with China and thefive wars that Japan and China have fought over thelast two thousand years. He notes that all these wars
began with struggles for influence over the Korean
peninsula and were closely connected with domestic politics in both Japan and China. Sino-Japaneserelations have ‘been deeply affected by both nations’relations with Europe, Russia and the United States’.
He suggests that ‘imbedding Sino-Japanese relations
within a framework of international cooperation canminimize friction between the two countries, but also
conversely, alienate them from one another’.
This book is a valuable contribution to our understanding of Asian relationships which if mishandled
could lead once more to conflicts which could shatterworld peace.§

Me Against the World

memorable passages, he goes as far as to liken humanbeings to cancer cells, noting that ‘Humans too leadmeaningless lives, having no reason to be born.’by Shiraishi Kazufumi
Dalkey Archive Press (2016)
ISBN-13: 978-1943150021
Review by Poppy Cosyns
This novel by Naoki PrizewinningauthorShiraishiKazufumi begins intriguingly,
with a ‘Publisher’s Foreword’
written by a fictional journalist. It explains that theensuing work was discovered after the sudden death of
his friend Mr K, who had been secretly compiling these‘private musings’ while working as a businessman.
What follows is less a work of fiction than ahundred or so pages of nihilistic ranting, in which Mr
K attempts – with off-putting ferocity – to unravel themeaning of life (or lack thereof). In one of the more
6

Each and every one of us is something like a cancercell. While cancer cells can metastasize anywhere
and are able to adapt and grow in any environment,
there really isn’t a single thing that can be consideredsignificant in their existence or in their nature to carryout unlimited proliferation.

Shiraishi revealed in a recent interview with The
Japan Times that the novel was written as a stream of
consciousness and took him just a week to complete.
On reading, this comes as little surprise; the text is
structured in two parts, but is otherwise without
chapters, and the ideas presented flow chaotically into
one another, often with little sense of follow-through.
False analogies and non-sequiturs dominate thediscourse.
Issue 65 Volume 11 Number 5 (October 2016)

For the most part, this is a confounding andfaintly distressing novel, which sees Mr K systematicallyrejecting those scraps of hope or meaning we all cling
to when trying to make sense of our existence.
There is light at the end of this very dark tunnel
however, with our narrator eventually arriving at asurprisingly optimistic conclusion. He declares thatcompassion is the one way to elevate the humancondition above the ‘diabolical programme that has
been built into this world.’ By this point the tone hassoftened and Raj Mahtani’s translation is at its mostlucid and readable, although how Mr K arrived at his
optimistic denouement is difficult to discern. Perhaps
it is recognition that when it comes to subjects likelove and hope, excessive rationalism is itself irrational.
While this is undoubtedly something of an
arduous read, Me Against The World demands – in
impressively unflinching style – that one consider andinterrogate those most elemental of concepts: love;
morality; science; religion, and for that reason alone
it’s worth the slog.§

Hamlet and Japan:
An Evening of Talks and Performancesambassador to Japan, gave an erudite talk focusing on
Shakespeare as a contemporary rather than classicalinfluence in Japan. Japan discovered Shakespearein the late nineteenth century when the country
was dramatically transforming, modernising andindustrialising in the wake of the Meiji Restoration.
Plays such as Julius Caesar, the title rendered as The
Rise and Fall of Rome and The Sword of Freedom by
Kawashima Keizō (1859–1936) and Tsubouchi Shōyō(1859–1935), were politically relevant during Japan’s
period of liberal awakening during the Taishō period(1912–‘26).
Covering much ground, Sir David also touchedon modern Japanese adaptations of Shakespeare suchas Kurosawa Akira’s series of films including Ran (basedon King Lear), Throne of Blood (Macbeth) and The Bad
Sleep Well (Hamlet). He further whetted the audience’s
appetite by mentioning acclaimed contemporary andradical Japanese theatre adaptations of Shakespeareby Noda Hideki.
Dr Todd Andrew Borlik, lecturer in the
Department of English Literature at Hull University,
gave a fascinating account of Sōseki Natsume’snegative response to Shakespeare. Sōseki (1867–1916)‘audaciously’ criticised Shakespeare from ‘a Japanesepoint of view’, pointing out that the issue of suicide as
seen in Hamlet does not resonate in the same way ina non-Christian country like Japan. Nor was the ideaof a man marrying his sister-in-law – as with Gertrude
and Claudius – problematic in Japan. Furthermore, thestrong appetite for revenge in Japanese theatre canmake Hamlet’s vacillation difficult to comprehend.
Following the intermission, the evening’s
focus moved towards performances and readings
from Hamlet. Isoda Aki, Japan-based actress andShakespearian, performed her A Vision of Ophelia inkabuki style. Isoda’s three short pieces strip Hamlet
down to the action and words of Ophelia.

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe
7 July 2016
Review by Susan Meehan

Hamlet and Japan at the Globe Theatre was anambitious attempt to cover aspects of Shakespeare’s
extensive history in Japan through talks, music andperformances, all in the space of a few hours. The
overriding motif of the ‘variety show’ style evening
was that our two nations draw strength from eachother and that there is no better exemplar of this thanin the performance and reception of Shakespeare.
As two shamisen players opened proceedings,
a hush descended over the tightly-packed andexpectant audience in the candle-lit Sam Wanamaker
Playhouse, a Jacobean-style 340-seat theatre.
‘The words of Mercury are harsh after the songs ofApollo’, quoted Patrick Spottiswoode, Director, Globe
Education as he greeted the audience and welcomed
onto the stage British theatre producer and former
actress Thelma Holt. In this evening’s celebration of
Shakespeare, it was fitting to begin by celebrating
the life of the Japanese theatre director Ninagawa
Yukio, renowned for his sumptuous adaptations of
Shakespeare, and with whom Holt had collaborated
on twenty-one productions since 1986.
Perched on a chair at the front of the stage, a large
Hello Kitty bag firmly planted in front of her as a prop,
the animated and passionate, yet visibly saddened
Holt delivered a heartfelt tribute to her friend, thegreat man, Ninagawa.
From there, the evening progressed apace with
two fine academic presentations, both illustrating
the fact that the British don’t hold a monopoly
on Shakespeare. Sir David Warren, former British
Latest reviews: www.japansociety.org.uk/resources/reviews/

7Isoda Aki as Ophelia in an earlier performance of A Vision of Ophelia

Isoda’s performances were in modern colloquial
Japanese and without English surtitles. Her use of props(Hamlet’s love letters, flowers, the river), however,ensured that the entire audience knew on which partsof Hamlet she was drawing.
Isoda’s performance was a testament to her
longevity. Now in her 80s, she has been performing
these pieces for around 45 years. Her heavily whitened
kabuki-style face – which made her seem far older
than she otherwise appears – was startling. She is atremendous supporter of Shakespeare and the Globe
and her commitment to acting is to be greatly admired.
A comedic highlight of the evening was a readingof the first translation into Japanese of ‘To be or not tobe’, written by Charles Wirgman, creator and editor in
the 1860s of Japan Punch. Japanese actor Ueda Sadao
read the piece to the evident hilarity of the Japanese
speakers in the crowd. He did this with tremendous
style despite the quality of the doggerel. Patrick
Spottiswoode in turn read Wirgman’s text – translatedback into English – again in fine dramatic style. The
result was extremely funny and had the audiencelaughing at phrases including ‘Would it be better if, myhead hurts’ and ‘Or to take arm against this trouble sea’and finishing ‘Goodbye to you, and then clap-clap.’
The evening came to a close with a conversation
between Spottiswoode, Rosie Fielding (a PhD
student specialising in theatre), Isoda’s costume andwig dressers and Isoda herself. They discussed thesymbolism of the wigs and kimono used by Isoda: pinkkimono and long hair for innocence, red for passion
and love, and unkempt hair and a brightly-coloured
kimono with lots of yellow to reflect descent into grief
and madness.
The evening’s accomplished performers,
musicians and presenters marvellously achieved theaim of celebrating Shakespeare and Japan in thismilestone 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth.
Though slightly overloaded by all that I had heard andseen (each one of the expert presentations could haveformed the basis of an afternoon’s discussion in itself) I
felt fortunate to have been in the audience.
Referencing Spottiswoode, the words of Mercury
did not disappoint or sound harsh at all!§