ABSTRACT
Among the diverse activities of the contemporary Japanese theatre, which range from commercial theatres of the musical comedy type to bizarre presentations of contemporary themes by underground troups, our attention is invariably called to a most remarkable feature: the insurmountable gulf between the two leading theatres, Kabuki, representing tradition, and Shingeki (New Theatre) representing a Japanese accommodation to modern (that is, Western) forms. These theatres stand as totally independent entities, each possessing its own orthodoxy, without association with the other.
