James R. Brandon's Kabuki's Forgotten War: 1931–1945 is a valuable addition to the growing body of research on the mobilization of cultural activities for Japan's war and empire. This thorough and enjoyable book joins works by Barak Kushner, Kim Brandt, and Brian Victoria, among others, in exploring the impact of war and imperialism on cultural production and the participation of cultural actors in militarism and empire building. Brandon argues, in contrast to standard accounts that elide wartime activities, that the kabuki world actively supported the war by “creating new war plays, offering special programs for government guests, raising funds for the war effort, purifying the existing repertory, and touring morale performances to military audiences” (p. 3). He focuses on the production of new plays with contemporary relevance, including “overnight pickle” (ichiyazuke 一夜漬け) plays, dramatizing the military exploits being reported in the newspapers, and new-history plays (shin-jidaigeki 新時代劇), involving the retelling of historical tales to fit contemporary circumstances.

The book is organized in four chronological parts, reflecting the changing fortunes of kabuki theater. Part One – chronologically the broadest, providing some historical background and covering the years 1931 to 1939 – traces the kabuki world's reactions to the various “incidents” of this period. The first chapter sets the pattern for the rest, demonstrating that kabuki was not aloof but rather deeply entangled in the political and economic currents of wartime, as producers sought to attract audiences with new plays that celebrated military victories while responding to government guidance within the increasingly tight constraints imposed by the censor. In this section, Brandon shows that censorship and political pressures combined with commercial incentives and patriotic sentiment to make kabuki an enthusiastic participant in the mobilization of national spirit during the war. His comparison of the media frenzy for stories of heroic self-sacrifice to the post-9/11 United States provides a useful reminder that media participation in the glorification of self-sacrifice at times of crisis is not limited to a specific time or place (pp. 50–52).

In Part Two, Brandon depicts the high point of kabuki's participation in war mobilization efforts, from 1940 to 1942. In 1940, kabuki joined the rest of Japanese society in celebrating the 2,600th anniversary of the mythical founding of Japan by its legendary first emperor. At the same time, individuals used the war to promote their own business or artistic goals. For instance, in 1941, a group of actors split from the powerful Shōchiku 松竹 Theatrical Corporation and formed their own independent theater group, stating as their goal: “the creation of a New Order on the stage … to serve the state” (p. 159). At the same time, Shōchiku president Ōtani Takejirō 大谷竹次郎 celebrated the start of war with the United States, noting that “advance tickets for the January production are going like hot cakes” (pp. 189–91). Brandon shows that, although producers and playwrights had to contend with greater restrictions and bureaucratic calls for “wholesome entertainment,” war was good for business.

The final years of the war are the subject of Part Three. As the tide of the war turned, new plays focused on the home front and offered audiences consolation for loss, rather than the celebration of victory. The future of kabuki was increasingly called into question, as the opulence of the art seemed strikingly inappropriate at a time when luxury had been declared an enemy. Kabuki was targeted as a luxury, and the government imposed various restrictions on its performance, including raising the kabuki admission tax to 200 percent, ordering major theaters closed, limiting performance times, and encouraging troupes of actors to tour the countryside. Brandon argues that such strict government controls nearly killed kabuki, even before American B-29s destroyed its theaters.

Although the book is focused on “kabuki's war” and the years 1931 to 1945, its most interesting story is in the brief concluding chapter on how interactions with Occupation censors effectively created the kabuki theater as it is known in Japan today. This chapter provides an interesting contrast to many stories of the Occupation, in which Japanese groups and individuals participated in limited ways to shape “imposed” reforms. In Brandon's tale, kabuki was victorious over Occupation forces, though he seems to suggest that the victory was in some ways a Pyrrhic one. The kabuki world stood firm against Occupation efforts to impose reform, resisting calls for new plays on democratic themes. Instead, they offered the argument that kabuki was a purely classical art, and, therefore, that the content of its plays had no contemporary relevance. Convinced by this argument, SCAP censors released classical plays for performance in spite of their outwardly “feudal” themes, such as loyalty and revenge. Brandon assigns credit (or blame) to Shōchiku producers for saving classic kabuki by transforming what was a living art into one “without relation to people's daily lives” (p. 352). He concludes and laments that Shōchiku's “profoundly conservative stance proved singularly successful. Kabuki-za audiences today cannot imagine seeing plays about modern Japan on that stage, whereas such plays were commonplace before 1945” (p. 355).

Brandon traces the struggle of the kabuki world to remain relevant in a society increasingly focused on war and against luxuries and frivolity, while maintaining some level of artistic integrity. He shows us how kabuki evolved as theater companies, playwrights, actors, and critics all used the war as a weapon in their artistic, labor-related, and business battles. With brief but clear explanations of historical context, the work is accessible to all readers, regardless of their level of familiarity with Japanese history. The book's detailed descriptions of plays, including not only their authors, but also which actors played in starring roles, make it useful to those who are interested primarily in the history of kabuki and fascinating for readers simply wanting to learn more about wartime culture and society in Japan. Although the content of the plays is central to his argument, one occasionally wishes he had curtailed some of the plot summary in favor of more of his own analysis of a specific play's significance in light of his broader arguments. Brandon carefully traces the way that the subject matter of new plays followed news from the front and complied with government directives, but stops short of assessing the import of this artistic evolution, beyond correcting the current erasure of the war period in histories of kabuki. The reader is left to ponder some big questions. Brandon's frequent comparisons to and asides about other art forms, including other theatrical genres – of which almost all seemed to be jumping onto the crowded bandwagon of militaristic jingoism – help to place kabuki in the context of contemporary culture. This enables us to pose some important questions about the topic: how was kabuki different from other war-feverish media? How does the story of kabuki change our understanding of society's reactions to government policies in Japan? These questions are not answered, but Brandon has provided us with the means to begin our inquiry.

A minor drawback of this compelling work has to do with its structure. Devoting (for the most part) a chapter to each year allows for a detailed view of the kabuki world's responses to changing circumstances. On the other hand, it makes for a significant amount of repetition as, year after year, kabuki joins in support of war and is censored and guided by the government. Nearly every chapter includes sections on the active contributions to the war effort by producers, actors, and playwrights through new war plays and other activities, on government guidance and the response, and on the censorship of plays. This pattern gives a feeling of reading more or less the same story again and again with varying degrees of intensity. But overall, the book is unmarred by this organizational issue.

Brandon's exhaustive research on wartime kabuki is the book's major contribution. Based on his impressive research in plays, reviews, theater journals, newspapers, and other rare sources, Brandon does a thorough job of dispelling two misconceptions about kabuki: that in the 1930s and early 1940s it was already “a dusty museum of classic drama” (p. xiii), and that the greatest threat to kabuki came from SCAP censors. He tells a convincing story that, in contrast to its ossified image, kabuki survived adverse circumstances through lively adaptation, the most radical of all being the creation of the myth of kabuki as “classic” theater.