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Akimoto's works that in any play you will find that the main character is searching for some way to release themselves and others from what is holding them back from their quest. Many of
Akimoto's main characters encounter either a social, political, or religious entity to guide them in their quest for redemption, but one of these systems obstructs them from doing so. By shining light on Japan's government through these types of references in her plays Akimoto was able to warn the Japanese community that the government does not want them to find redemption, but wanted their support in their pre-war empire efforts.
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170:(1902-1958), a leading playwright of the time. Not only did Miyoshi encourage Akimoto to write professionally, but he also inspired her. While, Akimoto disregarded comments that pertained to her as a disciple of Miyoshi, she was nevertheless influenced by his works of humanism, communism, and nationalism. In 1947 she debuted
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with the help of her two older brothers. It was her brothers' novels, which were accessible to her in the house as a child, that sparked her fascination with drama. She became a voracious reader as child and acquired theatrical language from reading
Japanese classics that later helped develop her
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A recurring theme in many of
Akimoto's work is the human quest for redemption. This theme can happen in several of ways: redemption from feeling guilty or ashamed, from affliction of physical or emotional suffering, from exploitation, or from death. Redemption is a consistent theme in all of
188:"I want to use dialect in such a way that when hearing the dialogue, any person from the above areas will feel that is the language of their area…I feel that is a form of dialogue that people from Tokyo and other areas far away can understand and relate to" - Akimoto
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There was a time in her career where she felt under appreciated as a playwright. So she stopped writing plays for a while and chose to become a scriptwriter for radio and television shows instead, but did not make what she hoped to get out of it. Regardless, her play
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However, in her later plays she strayed from her realists approach and switched to a shamaness style that incorporated dark poetry in order to capture her vision on how she saw the
Japanese community of her time. This can be seen in her award-winning masterpiece
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Goodman, David G. "The Quest for
Salvation in Japan’s Modern History: Four Plays by Akimoto Matsuyo." Modern Japanese Theatre and Performance. Eds. David Jortner, Keiko McDonald, and Kevin J. Wetmore Jr. United States: Lexington Books, 2006. 51-63.
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Goodman, David G. "The Quest for
Salvation in Japan’s Modern History: Four Plays by Akimoto Matsuyo." Modern Japanese Theatre and Performance. Eds. David Jortner, Keiko McDonald, and Kevin J. Wetmore Jr. United States: Lexington Books, 2006.
336:). The annual Asahi Awards consist of five prizes, one of which is named after Akimoto Matsuyo and is awarded for "theatrical works, individuals, or organizations that have succeeded in combining popular entertainment with artistic merit."
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played a significant role in her career. As a realist playwright, she used her work to make political statements in order to warn the greater
Japanese community that the government was trying to continue their pre-war
196:(1967 translated 1988) where the dialogue was used to present Japan's postwar culture. Her interest in human suffering and her compassion for those who suffer no doubt reflected her own experience as a child.
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Akihiko, Senda. "Double
Suicide, after Chikamatsu A Tōhō production." The Voyage of Contemporary Japanese Theatre. Trans. J. Thomas Rimer. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai'i Press, 1997. 104-108. Web.
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Rimer, J. Thomas, Mitsuya Mori, and M. Cody
Poulton, eds. The Columbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Drama. Chichester, NY: Columbia University Press, 2014. Print.
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In
Akimoto's work death reoccurs and the various Japanese customs developed to conquer it. Topics included mourning which can be found in (
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Japan Playwrights Association, ed. Half a Century of Japanese Theatre. Vol 7. Japan: Kinokuniya Company Ltd. 2005. 252- 257. Print.
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Goodman, David G. "Japanese Drama and Culture in the 1960s The Return of the Gods". United States: An East Gate Book, 1998.Print.
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on January 2, 1911, to a family of six consisting of her mother, father, and four older brothers. One of her brothers was
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Japan Playwrights Association, ed. Half a Century of Japanese Theatre. Vol 7. Japan: Kinokuniya Company Ltd. 2005.Print.
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When Akimoto was age three, her father died. In addition to her father's death at a young age, she was diagnosed with
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Meyer-Dinkgräfe, Daniel, ed. Who’s Who in Contemporary World Theatre. United States and Canada: Routledge, 2000. Web.
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from 1967 to 1970. Akimoto wrote her plays in a realist style with a focus on interpersonal family relationships.
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when she was in the third grade. Due to Akimoto's fatigue from her illness and her family's belief in traditional
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At the age of 35 and end of WWII, she became a professional playwright. She wrote for major
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Her collected works were published in five volumes in 2002, a year after her death.
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She gained inspiration to be a part of the literary field from reading western
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The following year after Akimoto enrolled into Miyoshi's Drama Workshop
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This play was popular all across Japan that it was also awarded the
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90:patriarchy
86:militarism
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80:system of
41:playwright
240:won over
96:Childhood
510:28 March
500:jlit.net
426:28 March
218:Gekisaku
179:shingeki
117:pleurisy
102:Yokohama
78:imperial
53:shingeki
57:bunraku
49:realist
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214:Keijin
158:Career
152:jōruri
112:poet.
88:, and
61:kabuki
140:Ibsen
110:haiku
65:radio
512:2015
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428:2015
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