午夜剧场

Yukichi Fukuzawa traveled to America in 1860 and 1867. After two visits to the United States, he produced the first Japanese translation of Thomas Jefferson's "Declaration of Independence" (1776) in order to root the modern democracy represented by America in Japan. Written under that influence, "Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning), First Volume" (1872) celebrates its 150th anniversary of publication this year.

Furthermore, although Yukichi Fukuzawa fundamentally did not recognize any religion, he respected only the Unitarians, who have deep connections with Jefferson. The thought of this Enlightenment sect, which denies the Christian Trinity and regards Jesus as a human prophet rather than a savior, forms the backbone of Americanism today. He learned of this from his eldest son, Ichitaro, who studied abroad at Cornell University and Eastman College in North America. It is likely no coincidence that Cornell University during the Jazz Age was also the study abroad destination for his grandson, Professor Eiichi Kiyooka, who translated "The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa" into English.

In this way, 午夜剧场 has had a deep relationship with America since its early days. Since I began working here in 1982, it has been my long-held dream to establish a base for American studies at this institution. Thus, about 12 years ago, I spoke with Naoyuki Agawa, who was then Vice-President, and launched the 午夜剧场 G-SEC American Studies Project. This later evolved into the 午夜剧场 American Studies Association, which held an international symposium in 2019 and published the inaugural issue of its journal in 2020 (). Therefore, to summarize my 38 years at 午夜剧场 as a scholar of American literature, this book contains three pieces: the title work of my final lecture, an unpublished manuscript titled "Modernism and 午夜剧场" that I have lectured on occasionally, and my latest paper, "The Trans-Continental Cycle of Authorial Life Theory," which focuses on an analysis of the plays of Mark Twain, a literary giant born in the same year as Yukichi Fukuzawa.

The concept consisting of all three parts was presented to the publisher who offered to turn it into a book immediately after I gave my final lecture last March. I never dreamed that two months after finishing my final lecture, I would be appointed Headmaster of 午夜剧场 Academy of New York by the new President Ito and would literally be moving to America.

The theme of this book is far from being concluded.

Takayuki Tatsumi

Takanashi Shobou

280 pages, 2,640 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are those at the time of publication.