Kan Kikuchi Reading J. M. Synge / W. B. Yeats Reading Kan Kikuchi：

The Reciprocal Influence of Japanese and Irish Literature

Abstract

　The early Taisho era witnessed an intensification of the movement for the introduction, translation and popularization of the literature published during the Irish Renaissance, through the efforts of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Kan Kikuchi, Yaso Saijo, and other writers. For example, Kan Kikuchi's early plays were influenced by J.M. Synge. He focused on the expressions of the Irish independence movement from Britain in literature, in connection to his intention to lay the foundations of “Kyoto Renaissance”; this movement had “Kyoto as Dublin” as its slogan, and was aiming to counter the “literary centralization” in Tokyo.

　This led Yeats to acclaim Kan Kikuchi. The acceptance of Kan Kikuchi in Ireland is evident from the high praise he received for Tojuro's Love and Four Other Plays (1926), translated into English by Glenn W. Shaw. Yeats, who was particularly impressed with The Housetop Madman (one of the plays translated), presented this play at the Abbey Theatre (Dublin Drama League). Yeats perceived Kan Kikuchi as “a playwright who writes dramas marked by national or racial traits”, and called him the Synge of Japan. Since Kikuchi himself had pointed out the similarities between The Housetop Madman (1916) and Synge's The Well of the Saints (1905), Yeats' observation is further proof of his deep understanding of Kikuchi's literature. This article attempts to clarify an aspect of the reciprocal influence between Japanese literature and Irish literature, i.e., Kan Kikuchi's reception of Synge and Yeats's acceptance of Kikuchi, through analyzing specific documents from both countries.