Junji Kinoshita

Kinoshita was born in Tokyo as the son of government official Kinoshita Yahachiro and his wife, Sassa Mie. Kinoshita attended school in Tokyo until 1925 when his parents moved back to his father's hometown of Kumamoto to retire. Kinoshita was in fourth grade at the time and transferred to the Fifth High School in Kumamoto. Although Kinoshita was teased very much by other students because of his Tokyo dialect at his new school, this experience in his childhood made him think deeply about the Japanese language and become more aware of the complexities of spoken language. Kinoshita left many works, which cover a wide range of genres including plays, novels, and theatre reviews, in addition to his translation of Shakespeare’s works. They are collected in The Collected Works of Junji Kinoshita (木下順二集), published by Iwanami Shoten, Publishers (株式会社岩波書店, Kabushiki Gaisha Iwanami Shoten). Kinoshita was selected as a member of The Japan Art Academy (日本芸術院) in 1984, and chosen as the honorary citizen of Tokyo (東京名誉都民) in 1998, but he turned down both of these honors. He never accepted any national honors or awards, and stuck to his left-wing political views throughout his life. Kinoshita died on October 30, 2006, from pneumonia. In accordance with his will, no funeral was held. His death was reported one month after his death. ==Career==

Style and main works Kinoshita's professional career started at the end of the war when Yasue Yamamoto (山本安英) used to perform as a leading actress. Although he wrote more than forty plays in his lifetime, the subjects of his works vary. Many of his plays are based on Japanese folktales, but he also created works set in contemporary Japan that deal with social issues. The drama of Kinoshita does not deal with elements of fantasy or poetry, but rather allows the audience to think deeply about death, guilt, and judgment. Between God and Man Between God and Man presents readers with the themes of death, guilt, and judgment in response to the two war crime trials held by the Allies after the Pacific War to judge Japanese who were suspected of having committed crimes. The defense lawyers argue that “crimes against peace” and “crimes against humanity,” are unfair interpretations of war crimes. Though what he meant by “the energy” is unclear, Kinoshita seemed to believe that Shakespeare’s language conveyed more just meaning in live performance. He wrote drafts of plays that are based on folktales in this period. He said that people often say that folktales are living now and will have to be passed down to future generations for them to continue, but it is needless to say that this does not mean folktales should be the same as they used to be long ago, or that we are supposed to keep them as they were before. As transportation developed and the print media became widespread following modernization, folktales gradually came to lose some of what made their way of storytelling and their form unique. For example, folktales used to be told by elders to children, but now there has been a decrease in the number of such elderly people who could become storytellers both in the cities and in the countryside. This means the original form of the folktale is slowly disappearing. On the other hand, Kinoshita said that, even though folktales are not being passed down to the next generations through old storytellers because of social changes, they still play an important role in the mental development of children. In the case that children are not interested in respectable readings or if it is hard for them to make a habit of reading more sophisticated books, Kinoshita felt that folktales could capture their attention and could be a bridge for children develop reading habits. However, he also mentions that the imaginative elements or development of folktales are often considered unscientific and irrational things by today's children. ==Associations==

Another remarkable Shakespeare translator of the time, Tsuneari Fukuda (福田恆存), was two years Kinoshita's senior and equally as well-known. He also studied English literature at University of Tokyo. Although Kinoshita and Fukuda discussed literature, drama, society and politics, they never agreed with each other's writing, and had very different ideas of how to translate Shakespeare into Japanese. They differed in their political stances. Kinoshita had socialist-leanings, though he was never dogmatic like many socialists in Japan in those days. Fukuda was politically conservative. However, they rarely criticized each other for their political views. Their biggest difference between them was the ideas of how to translate Shakespeare's works. Kinoshita did not agree with translating Shakespeare in a way that emphasized the audience's understand. He felt this translation method robbed the text of its deeper meanings and emotional power. Therefore, “a translation which has, so to speak, clarified the original and produced a more logical and easier version (Like Fukuda’s translation, according to Kinoshita) has failed to reproduce ‘the energy’ of Shakespeare." Kinoshita wrote Yūzuru for Yasue Yamamoto, and it was published in 1949. This play premiered on October 27, 1949. Yamamoto performed as Tsū 1037 times about in the 37 years between 1949 and 1986. Yamamoto held the record for the longest-running performance in Japanese theatre history until she was overtaken by Mitsuko Mori (森光子)’s star performance in ''A Wanderer's Notebook'' (放浪記(劇作品) Hourou-ki). ==Works==

Theatre productions • 1946: Hikoichi-banashi (A Story of Hikoichi) • 1947: Hata no oto (The Sound of the Loom) • 1947: Sannen-ne Tarō (Taro Who Slept for Three Years) • 1947: Sanmyaku (The Magic Hearing Cap), premiered in 1947. • 1948: Yūzuru (Twilight Crane) • 1949: Yamanami (Over the Mountain Range), premiered at Mitsukoshi Theatre, Tokyo, Japan • 1950: Kurai hibana (Dark Spark) • 1952: Kaeru shōten (The Ascension of a Frog), premiered at Mitsukoshi Theatre, Tokyo, Japan • 1953: Fūro (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 Kabuki play at Shinbashi Embujo Theatre, Tokyo, Japan • 1962: Ottō 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 Meitetsu Hall, Nagoya, Japan • 1987: Natsu Nanpō 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. • Yūzuru (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. • Ottō to yobareru nihonjin (published as A Japanese Called Otto), trans. Lawrence Rogers in Patriots and Traitors: Sorge and Ozaki, MerwinAsia, 2010. == Notes ==