America’s Japan and Japan’s Performing Arts

Studies the images and myths that have shaped the reception of Japan-related theatre, music, and dance in the US since the 1950s. Barbara E. Thornbury explores how “Japan” and “Japanese culture” have been constructed, reconstructed, and transformed in response to the hundreds of productions that have taken place over the past sixty years in New York.

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America’s Japan and Japan’s Performing Arts studies the images andmyths that have shaped the reception of Japan-related theater, music,and dance in the United States since the 1950s. Soon after World WarII, visits by Japanese performing artists to the United States emergedas a significant category of American cultural-exchange initiativesaimed at helping establish and build friendly ties with Japan. BarbaraE. Thornbury explores how “Japan” and “Japanese culture” have beenconstructed, reconstructed, and transformed in response to the hundredsof productions that have taken place over the past sixty years in NewYork, the main entry point and defining cultural nexus in the UnitedStates for the global touring market in the performing arts. The author’stransdisciplinary approach makes the book appealing to those in theperforming arts studies, Japanese studies, and cultural studies.