Nippon Wars and Other Plays

and explore Japan’s popular culture during and after the economic bubble of the late 1980s and capture the culture’s apocalyptic, but sublime essence. The intertextual work examines the violent complications and stultifying inertia of contemporary politics. Two of Kowamura’s more recent plays, , look at how memories of the past remain in our consciousness. Also included in this collection is the tragedy ,where myths of ancient Greece and Japan’s popular culture collide. With an introductory essay by a specialist in contemporary Japanese theater, Peter Eckersall, and translations by leading scholars and artists, “ provides an essential look into Japan’s contemporary theater scene.