Takayasu Gekko and Kyoto Engeki Kairyo Kai: The True State of the Third Public Performance and its Setbacks

Abstract

In 1902, Kyoto Engeki Kairyo Kai, literally “The Theatre Improvement Organization in Kyoto”, was established. The aim of this organization was to reform conventional theatrical forms in order to modernize them, placing special weight on improving dramatic scripts. Takayasu Gekko, who has been regarded as an old-fashioned playwright of Kabuki, took a key role, as a matter of fact, in this new movement.

However, the activities of Kyoto Engeki Kairyo Kai ended after giving only three public performances. Although the organization used to focus on the pieces of Gekko, his drama was not staged in the organization's last public performance in 1903, in spite of having been nominated initially.

In this paper, I re-examined the relationship between Gekko and the organization, especially focusing on the meaning of the third and last public performance, which has never been examined in detail until now. This investigation shall clear out the reason why the movement failed, as well as the real reason which disturbed modernization of Japanese theatre at that time. This is an attempt of reassessing the playwright Takayasu Gekko in the context of the theatre history in Japan.