Engei gahō

演藝画報

(Theater Illustrated)

A WORK IN PROGRESS - DRAFT

Performing Arts Magazines

Engei gahō 演藝画報 (Theater Illustrated)

Source: "Engekikai": Kabuki's Magazine of Record Author(s): Samuel L. Leiter Source: Impressions , 2016, No. 37 (2016), pp. 74-87 Published by: Japanese Art Society of America Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24869115

"[I]t wasn't until 1907 that a magazine in the modern mode appeared to provide for the average reader, on a monthly schedule, a wealth of verbal and pictorial information about the theater. It was called Engei gahō (Theater illustrated), and covered theater activity, major and minor, in both the Tokyo and Kamigata (also Kansai, or Kyoto-Osaka) regions, with black-and-white photos of actors and productions. It also published play scripts, criticism, historical articles, discussions and production records. Its appearance varied from year to year, and while it originally stressed the theater as entertainment, it took a more serious turn after the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923, its mission being kabuki's preservation.

"In 1943, wartime paper shortages led the Japanese government to eliminate  or consolidate many magazines; Engei gahō  was combined with five other theater magazines into Engekikai  (Theater world) and Nihon engeki (Japanese theater). The latter was academically oriented and aimed at specialists, while Engekikai, first released in November 1943, was  more popularly inclined, taking over where Engei gaho left off and serving to increase appreciation of kabuki among the general population. The magazine stopped publication briefly, in February 1945, but it reappeared in October 1945, soon after the war end."

Covers from issues in this collection

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