Description: For the first time, using an interdisciplinary, theoretical and ethnographic approach, the editors have brought together a rich collection of current research on contemporary Japanese performance practices. Topics covered include theatre, music, art, fashion and technology, media, architecture and tourism. Well illustrated, Performing Japan will provide added-value in introductory courses on the Japanese language, history, or culture, as well as Asian Studies in general. In addition, it offers valuable comparative references in the context of theatre, music and dance classes which either introduce Japanese forms or focus entirely on the performing traditions of Japan. The fourteen contributors include Joy hendry, Roy Starrs, Peter Eckersall, Kimi Coaldrake, Henry Johnson and Jerry C. Jaffe.
Review Quotes: "... Performing Japan is an attractively presented volume with the text supported by beautifully reproduced colour plates illuminating several of the essays and in some cases providing necessary visual examples [...] Johnson and Jaffe have created an invaluable resource for further study of Japanese performance, and contributed to debates about the complex connections between art, cultural identity and politics." - David O'Donnell, in: Australasian Drama Studies, 57 (October 2010), pp. 228-231