ABSTRACT
In conclusion, then, I would like to repeat my earlier observation that Shakespeare continues to be regarded as a modem playwright in Japan. In the first phase of his acceptance, it was his rationality and clear delineation of the power of individual character that attracted audiences; now, on another level, those very archaic elements that sometimes trouble modem audiences in this country can on occasion help, because of similar elements long familiar in the Japanese classical theater tradition now in use again, to make Shakespeare "modem" in still another mode. The resurgence of the significance of these older elements can, in tum, help domesticate his work still further.
