戦時下の農村と演劇

―素人演劇と移動演劇

抄録

It was very important during wartime to provide recreations for farmers and to motivate hard work. The theatre was very useful for this purpose. In the early 1940s, the Japanese government controlled the theatre and used it to boost the wartime spirits. For examples, the JOHO-KYOKU (a part of the government) and other institutions promoted plays by farmers. The government also organized the IDO-ENGEKI-RENMEI (the federation of mobile theatre). As part of the scope of this federation, many actors and actresses went on journey to farm and mountain and marine villages to perform.

Many dramatists and actors approved the policy, and they searched for stories and methods that would be agreeable to the wartime. The mainstream of the drama at this time was SHIN-GEKI (the plays of realism) but the Kabuki and dramas of older styles had a high popularity among farmers. The farmers enjoyed the realism plays by professional actors, but they wanted to see old style dramas also. Many of farmers thought that the SHINGEKI plays were difficult to understand. The SHIN-GEKI spread all over Japan in the 1940s, but the old-style plays remained in the people's hearts.