85:. The family is celebrating Shizu's birthday, the mother of the family whose late husband began the family trade business. However, at the time of Kei's arrival, the business is being run by Shizu and her brother, ShÅsuke. Upon hearing Kei's story, Shizu sympathizes with the young girl and allows Kei to stay in their house as a maid. As the years go by, Kei displays a genuine passion for the trade business and wins the trust of Shizu, who asks her to marry her oldest son, ShintarÅ, in hopes of saving the family trade business Shizu fears her son will be unable to maintain. Unlike the passion Kei displayed for trade, ShintarÅ was interested in
184:, a close colleague of Morimoto during the war and the most famous Bungakuza actress at the time. The Great East Asian War ended only months after the play was first staged and in early 1946, Morimoto rewrote the first and last scenes to, "make the play compatible with the post-war political atmosphere." Because
93:. Despite Kei secretly being in love with ShintarÅ's younger brother Eiji, she decides to abide by Shizu's wishes and abandons her side romance. Kei marries ShintarÅ and after Shizu's death, Kei is left operating Tsutsumi family affairs, as well as the family trade business. Later, differing views on
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had not ended by the time it was staged and the sound of an air-raid alarm could be heard for the duration of the performance. Originally, the play was to be performed at the
Tsukiji Little Theatre, but the location changed after the building was destroyed in a bombing. The role of Kei was written
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drives a wedge between Kei and
ShintarÅ, and the gap between them grows even deeper once ShintarÅ discovers Kei's short-lived romance with Eiji. However, when Eiji returns to the house and tells Kei of his activism and radical left-wing views, he is turned into the police by Kei herself. The act of
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betraying her uncle causes Kei's daughter Chie to leave her mother's house to live with
ShintarÅ, her father. The play ends when that winter, ShintarÅ visits Kei at her house unexpectedly. While the two are reacquainting, ShintarÅ falls dead into Kei's arms.
376:
Zheng, Guohe. "Reflections of and on the Times: Morimoto Kaoru's A Woman's Life." Modern
Japanese Theatre and Performance. By David Jortner, Keiko I. McDonald, and Kevin J. Wetmore. Illustrated, Reprint ed. N.p.: Lexington, 2007. 189-201.
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Rimer, Thomas J., Mitsuya Mori, and Cody M. Poulton. "A Woman's Life." The
Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Drama. Trans. Ghuohe Zheng. N.p.: Columbia UP, 2014. 182+. Reader.eblib.com. University of Washington Library. Web. 5 May
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tells the story of Kei as she grows from a young girl into a successful businesswoman. The play was commissioned as propaganda by the
Japanese military in 1945 and was first staged later that year by the Literary Theatre
413:"Morimoto Kaoru's Play in Russian Theatre." Japanese Performing Arts Resource Center (JPARC) | Information and Media on Japanese Theatrical Traditions. GloPAC, n.d. Web. 13 May 2015. <
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received the play well. The play was commissioned by
Japanese military authorities in the hopes of promoting the five principles of cooperation decided upon at the
81:. On her sixteenth birthday, Kei runs away from her aunt's house and wanders into the yard of the Tsutsumis, a wealthy family involved in the trade business with
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during the war. The play was commissioned in the hopes of promoting the five principles of cooperation decided upon at the
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and was received well there, despite the play's original political assertions. The play was even translated into
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had performed the play around 950 times. Later, the role of Kei was taken over by Yoshie Taira and Yuki Shoda.
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Powell, Brian. Japan's Modern
Theatre: A Century of Change and Continuity. N.p.: Japan Library, 2002. Print.
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died later that year, just a few months after his new version of the play was published into book form.
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rewrote the first and last scenes in order for the play to remain relevant after the war.
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and would later be described as, "'one of representative post-war plays.'" Unlike
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This article is about the play by Kaoru
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Historical
Dictionary of Modern Japanese Literature and Theater, Google Books
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was one of two literary works commission by the Japanese military during
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Japan's Modern Theatre: A Century of Change and Continuity, Google Books
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strength and resilience after the war. At the time these alterations to
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was no longer the focus it was during the war, the play was changed by
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http://www.glopad.org/jparc/?q=en%2Frussia%2Fmarimoto_kaoru_play%2B%2B
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and performed overseas. Later, the play would receive recognition in
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with Kei as a young orphan living with her abusive aunt.
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