Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre (Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts)

This comprehensive reference work covers all four forms of traditional Japanese theatre: nô, kyôgen, bunraku, and kabuki. International tours by each have become commonplace, allowing audiences everywhere to broaden their understanding of theatre's possibilities, and inspiring artists to infuse their works with ideas sparked by Japanese theatre's conventions. Because of the great interest generated by increasing familiarity with these theatre traditions, along with a multitude of general and specialized publications investigating and describing them, there has developed a serious need for a work that allows for immediate access to specific information regarding many concepts, terms, and individuals.

The Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre covers all four genres, providing information on nearly every aspect, including actors, theatres, companies, history, makeup, costumes, masks, biographies, theories, training, music, religion, criticism, and many more. This is done through hundreds of dictionary entries arranged alphabetically with abundant cross-references, a general introduction, a chronology, and a special glossary of all terms mentioned in the text but not provided with their own entries, all of which can be supplemented by consulting the most extensive bibliography of English-language Japanese theatre books, articles, and websites presently available.