This illustrated work assembles 25 of the over 40 papers that were given at the Japanese Theatre in the World Symposium held in Munich in 1998. The essays range widely through Japanese theatre, from the ancient to the postmodern, or, one might say, from kagura to angura. Subjects include lion dances, Takarazuka, kabuki, noh, folk theatre, international reception, taishu engeki, Terayama Shuji and other modern playwrights, etc. The team of authors represents scholarship in Japan, the United States, Scotland, France, Germany, Australia, Romania, Italy, Sweden, and Israel. The chief focus is on the place held by Japan’s various theatre forms in the world, and vice-versa.