Theatre Improvement Association

This organization was established as one of the outcomes of the Meiji era's theater reform movement. After the Meiji Restoration, as a prerequisite for negotiations to revise the unequal treaties, the Westernization of social systems and customs was advocated in order to make Japan a civilized country on par with the West, and as part of this, methods for theater reform became actively discussed in newspapers and other media. In 1886 (Meiji 19), the Theater Reform Society was founded at the initiative of Suematsu Kencho, and projects were launched with the cooperation of such intellectuals as Yoda Gakukai and Fukuchi Gen'ichiro (Ouchi), as well as politicians and business leaders including Ito Hirobumi. According to the Theater Reform Society's statement of purpose, the three main objectives were to improve the past bad customs, raise the status of scriptwriters, and build a new theater. However, many of the members had little knowledge of traditional Japanese theater and were driven by a hasty Westernization ideology, so there were many parts that lacked validity, such as casually proposing the abolition of elements related to the essence of Kabuki theater, such as onnagata, hanamichi, and chobo, and revealing a lack of understanding of traditional scripts and performances. As a result, the association did not gain the sympathy of theater-savvy intellectuals or those involved in the theater world, and although it did manage to hold a play for the Emperor Meiji and other members of the imperial family at the residence of Foreign Minister Inoue Kaoru in April 1887, it disappeared in 1888 with the resignation of the first Ito cabinet. Although it did not produce any concrete results, the theatrical theories exchanged among the various members at the founding of the association led to the later founding of the Japan Engei Kyofukai and the Japan Engei Kyokai, and promoted the rise of new ideas about theater and drama.

[Noriko Matsumoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治期の演劇改良運動の一つの帰結として成立した団体。維新後、不平等条約改正交渉の前提として、日本を西洋なみの文明国とするために社会制度や風俗習慣の欧化改良が唱えられ、その一環として演劇改良の方法が新聞紙上などで盛んに論じられるようになった。1886年（明治19）に、末松謙澄(けんちょう)の主唱によって演劇改良会が創立され、依田学海(よだがっかい)、福地(ふくち)源一郎（桜痴(おうち)）などの識者と、伊藤博文(ひろぶみ)をはじめとする政財界人の協力に基づく事業が発足する運びとなった。演劇改良会趣意書によれば、従来の弊風の改善、脚本作者の地位の向上、新劇場の建設という3点がおもな目的であった。しかし、会員の多くが日本の伝統演劇に関する知識に乏しく、ひたすら性急な欧化主義に駆られていたため、女方、花道、チョボなど歌舞伎(かぶき)劇の本質にかかわる要素の廃止を無造作に提唱したり、伝承された脚本や演技に対する無理解を露呈するなど、妥当性を欠く部分が少なくはなかった。そのため、演劇に詳しい知識人や劇界関係者の共感を得るに至らず、1887年4月に外務大臣井上馨(かおる)邸において明治天皇をはじめとする皇族方を招いての天覧劇の実現はみたものの、第一次伊藤内閣の退陣とともに88年には消滅してしまった。具体的成果はあげられなかったが、この会の設立を契機として諸家の間に交わされた演劇論は、後の日本演芸矯風会(きょうふうかい)や日本演芸協会の設立につながり、演劇や戯曲に対する新しい理念の台頭を促した。

［松本伸子］

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