In the late 19th century, when the concept of degeneration was widely argued in the Western world, Max Nordau, a Hungarian physician and author, became famous for his severe criticism of contemporary literature and art which he deemed ‘degenerate’. His name was propagated even in Japan, and Masamune Hakucho, a rising literary figure of the time, played an important role in his reception. Hakucho produced an abridged translation of one of Nordau’s main works: Paradoxes.

　This study focuses on the translation and examines the reasons why he considered the work so important, seeing that they remain unclear although the prior studies on the subject have discussed his translation in detail. A close comparison of the English translation of the work and the Japanese version Hakucho made of it, shows that he attached less importance to the concept of degeneration than Nordau’ s ideal of literature which essentially emphasized paying attention to ordinary people and things. In fact, this ideal was realized in Hakucho’s novel “Jin’ai (Dust),” written soon after the translation mentioned above.

　Hakucho’s way of receiving Nordau was akin to that of some Japanese literary intellectuals of the time. In the course of the development of modern Japanese literature, they cultivated a similar interest in ordinary people and things, which may explain their eager and intense reading of Nordau.

　Yaeko Batchelor (1884-1962) is one of the most representative Ainu poets who started writing Japanese short poems, namely tanka, using both the Ainu and Japanese languages. Her major work is represented by the tanka collection Wakaki utari ni (To My Young Companions, 1931), which was meant to be a message to younger generations about the present situation of the Ainu, and what their future, in Yaeko’s view, should have looked like. Yaeko’s work is unique in its use of tanka referring to both a monotheistic Christian God and kamuy, divine beings in Ainu mythology celebrated through oral literature. With Yaeko being an Anglican Church missionary, addressing multiple gods has been regarded as highly controversial, with scholars such as Maruyama Ryūji or Tanigawa Ken'ichi concluding that her Christian faith was merely a façade. However, these theories overlook how each figure is characterized and represented within Wakaki utari ni’s context̶and Yaeko’s intentions in crafting these portrayals.

　In this paper, I present a detailed analysis of Yaeko’s depictions of both the Christian God and kamuy throughout the collection. Every character possesses its own role and works towards one common goal: creating an ideal future for the next generation. I demonstrate how Wakaki utari ni’s poetic world allows for the simultaneous affirmation of Christianity and Ainu mythology.

　French Stories (Furansu-monogatari) is an anthology of short stories that reflects the experiences of the author, Nagai Kafū, during his stay in France. The anthology, banned just before its first release in 1909, included four critiques of Western music in the “appendices.” These critiques were first published in literary magazines, reflecting the growing interest in Western music at that time. This paper elucidates the relationship between Nagai Kafū and Romain Rolland and explores the topology of Kafū's music criticism.

　Romain Rolland is best known as the author of the roman-fleuve Jean-Christophe, but he was also a pioneer of musicology in France. In 1908, Rolland published Musicians-of-Today (Musiciens d'aujourd'hui), which delved into French and German music of his era. It is presumed that Kafū read this work during his stay in France.

　In his article “Recent Trends in Western Music,” Kafū cites Rolland's arguments, marking the first introduction of Rolland to the Japanese audience. By comparing this article to “Claude Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande” by Rolland, it becomes evident that Kafū is not merely echoing Rolland's views but rather expressing his own appreciation of French music. Furthermore, a comparison with other critiques by Rolland in Musicians-of-Today reveals that while Kafū was heavily influenced by Rolland's writings, he also incorporated his own musical experiences.

　I argue that The musical critiques in French Stories, coupled with Rolland's name as a music critic and his discourses, introduced contemporary Western music trends to Japan and showcased Kafū's aspirations as a music critic to the literary world of his era.

　Ryunosuke Akutagawa's “Hell Screen” (serialized in the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun from May 1-21, 1918) is known as one of his masterpieces. Many works, including Hebbel's “Judith,” have been pointed out as the source of “Hell Screen,” but this article argues that the most important literary source is in fact Pierre Louÿs’s “The Artist Triumphant” (originally titled “L'Homme de Pourpre,” translated into English by G. F. Monkshood in short story collection Woman and Puppet etc.).

　“The Artist Triumphant” is set in ancient Greece and tells the story of how the painter Palacios, well-known for his painting competition with Zeuxis, ends up creating the legendary work, Prometheus. “Hell Screen” and “The Artist Triumphant” have several things in common. These include a story told in the form of a recollection; the appearance of a ruler who conflicts with the artist; the important role of the artist's disciples and also activities of the artist that are inimical to the human mind. Above all, however, both focus their main attention on the supremacy of art over all else.

　Akutagawa read “The Artist Triumphant” in mid-January 1918, precisely when he was preparing for writing “Hell Screen”, and there is good reason to believe that he was inspired by it.

　This thesis deals with Takahashi Kenji (1902–1998), a prominent Japanese Germanist, and his work titled Two Pillars of Denmark (1951), which is an adaptation of A Story of Denmark (1911) by Uchimura Kanzo (1861–1930). This work was widely read by children because it was published in a primary school textbook in the 1950s and 60s. He was famous for translating several works authored by German pacifist writers such as Hermann Hesse and anti-nazi writers such as Erich Kästner in the post-war period. In the 2000s, some researchers point out, that he also had made a career out of collaborating with fascism. Resultantly, he was appointed as the head of the Cultural Division of Imperial Rule Assistance Association. However, when he began promoting anti-Nazi writers after the war, he did not apologize for his propaganda.

　In this thesis, I focus on the relationship between Takahashi’s War Propaganda in the period of Japanese fascism and ‘Happy Nordics’ in its current typical image. I analyse the adaptation by Takahashi to prove my hypothesis that Takahashi wrote ‘Happy Nordics’ by envisioning the ideal image of the Nordic ethnic folk in the period of pre-fascism and of fascism. First, I summarise previous research. Furthermore, I analyse Uchimura's A Story of Denmark by scrutinising its Danish background, how Japanese educators can find it, and how educators cooperate with the Manchurian Mongolian Pioneers. Lastly, I analyse some versions of Pillars of Denmark. Takahashi refers to Denmark as ‘one of the happiest countries in the world’, although Uchimura refers to it as ‘one of the richest countries in the world’. Throughout this study, I demonstrate how the Nordic image constructed by the Japanese Germanist remains intact as the current image of the ‘Happy Nordic’.

　“Collaboration” refers to the creation of a single work of art by multiple authors working together. Since the 1960s, when postmodernism began to take shape, collaborations between people from different genres and areas have been active in all fields, including literature, art, music, dance, and architecture. This study is a cross-genre discussion of collaboration as a method of artistic creation.

　The 1970s and 1980s witnessed a significant extent of collaborations between the figure skating and dance worlds. The British figure skater John Curry led these collaborations. He created a total of 24 figure skating works with 15 dance choreographers. Particularly noteworthy is After All, created in collaboration with American dance choreographer Twyla Tharp. In this piece, Curry and Tharp attempted to create a completely new figure skating piece by combining their respective specialties in skating and dance styles. This study examines their collaboration by using their joint work After All as a case study.

　First, the collaborative process between Curry and Tharp in producing After All is analyzed from the perspective of comparative cultural theory. Second, the content of the work is analyzed using the figure notation developed by the author to reveal how Curry and Tharp’s styles were integrated. By applying these methods, we evaluate After All and discuss the possibilities and limitations of collaboration.