Arthur Miller's Global Theater

Miller, Mingei, and Japan

107 JohnT. Dorsey Miller, Mingei, and Japan Cultural contacts and transactions are often determined by chance: when we consider the dramatic contingencies of translation, production, reception, political climate, social situation, and publication practices, the possibilities for failure seem unlimited, especially in dealing with two cultures so different from each other as those of Japan and America. Writing about the difficulties faced by Japanese actors performing in Western plays, Peter Arnott observed, “The gulf between the Japanese theatre and its Western counterpart embraces more than different social standards and unfamiliar subject-matter. They are two forms built on different aesthetic foundations, and divided by the actor’s concept of his relation to his role.The extrovert and presentational style cultivated for centuries in Japan cannot be easily reconciled with plays written for actors trained in a different mode and expected to identify themselves psychologically with their roles.”1 This seems to be an overstatement of the case,especially when we consider that shingeki, the“new”orWestern theater in Japan, is already nearly a hundred years old. And in the case of Arthur Miller productions in Japan, we have a particularly good tale to tell, for many of Miller’s plays have been produced successfully, and the major works have been revived repeatedly for over fifty years. One major factor in the production of Arthur Miller plays in Japan is the Theater Troupe of Mingei.The word mingei, which usually refers to folk art, is used here in a broad sense to mean theater for the people; one of the early slogans of the group was in fact a “theater for everyone .”2 The emphasis of this theater group from the outset has been on drama that is socially relevant. According to the “Production Record of the MingeiTheater Group,”it was originally established in 1947 under the name Minshu Geijutsu Gekijo by Kubo Sakae as an attempt to establish a theater of realism and to maintain liberalism and conscience after the war; but after a few years the group disbanded because of financial pressures and political disagreements.It was reorganized in 1950 as Gekidan Mingei with 108 Arthur Miller’sGlobalTheater founding members including the actors and stage directors Uno Jukichi (1914–88) and Takizawa Osamu (1906–2000). The former was the leader of Mingei from 1954; he performed in many of their productions, playing the role of Biff in the first Japanese production of Death of a Salesman in 1954. Thus the Mingei theater group has been producing plays by Miller, and had regular contact and cooperation with the author, for over half a century.3 Closely associated with the Mingei theater group from the outset was director Sugawara Takashi.Beginning with his Japanese language version of Salesman, Takashi continued to translate most of the works by Miller produced by Mingei until his death in May 1970. It was Kurahashi Ken, however, who published a five-volume collection of Miller’s work that is still the standard translation in Japan.4 After Takashi’s death, Kurahashi began to work closely with the Mingei theater group in the translation of Miller’s texts for the Japanese stage. Between September 1945 and April 1952, Japan was subject to the American occupation, which had widespread effects on Japanese culture.5 During this period the Americans wanted to introduce the Japanese to U.S. culture, while at the same time monitoring elements of dissent. In regard to the introduction of American theater in Japan, the cultural wing of the American occupation at first encouraged the reading and translating of works by Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, but later discouraged dissemination of their plays because they showed America in a negative light. In the theater, the desire to keep tabs on undesirable tendencies in Japan led to the banning of Japanese works, at first those considered right-wing and militaristic, and later those considered left-wing and Communist, particularly with the phase beginning in June 1950 known as the Red Purge. Thus, those who had been persecuted during the war for their left-wing views were championed as opponents of militarism immediately after the war and felt liberated; during the Red Purge they faced a new, if less intense, round of persecution. In particular, with the start of the Korean War, shingeki actors, including members of the Mingei theater group, were considered Communists or Communist sympathizers, and they faced blacklisting by the film industry, by NHK Broadcasting, and even by commercial theaters. The records of the Mingei...