Staging Private Spheres: Theaters of the Domestic in Postwar and Contemporary Japan

Jessica Nakamura
Theater and Dance
UC Santa Barbara

Despite established political and affective significances of imagining the private sphere, its portrayals in global performance practices have been ignored. Staging Private Spheres examines theatrical depictions of the domestic in Japan, where an early 20th century image of the home supported national and imperial projects, was repurposed in the postwar period to bolster economic revitalization, and is now repeated despite immense changes to Japanese society. Focused on the postwar and contemporary periods (1945-present), when past domestic ideas become entrenched as social norms, this study views the Japanese theater stage as a key site to expose mechanisms of the imagined home. Through performance records, theater media, artist writings, and performance ephemera, the study highlights how theatrical portrayals participate in the idealized home’s endurance, while also offering challenges and imagining alternatives. Writing a history of 20th century Japanese theater that departs from studies focused on a single artist or single theater movement, Staging Private Spheres instead identifies continuities between past and present and highlights the politically complex roles of art forms, artists, and audiences.