Outlines
About the Shakespeare Society of Japan
The Shakespeare Society of Japan (hereafter the Society) is a not-for-profit, academic organization devoted to the study of the works of William Shakespeare.
The Society promotes academic exchange among Japanese Shakespeareans and partnerships with researchers abroad by publishing Shakespeare Studies, Shakespeare Journal, Shakespeare Newsletter, and various commemorative publications, as well as by hosting conferences, the Shakespeare Festival, lectures, and workshops.
A Brief History
The forerunner of the Society was the Shakespeare Association of Japan, which was founded in Tokyo in 1929 under the presidency of Professor Sanki Ichikawa of the Imperial University of Tokyo. The Honorary President of the Association was Shoyo Tsubouchi, who single-handedly translated the complete works of Shakespeare into Japanese. One of the objectives of this organization was to promote amicable Anglo-Japanese relations. The cultural activities of the Association therefore suffered a serious setback in the mid-1930s, as Japan veered increasingly towards war with the West. During World War II, the Association came to a virtual standstill.
In 1961, after some 15 years’ suspension of its activities, the Shakespeare Association restarted under a new name, the Shakespeare Society of Japan. The new Society set out to promote Shakespeare studies in Japan, and membership was open to anyone interested in Shakespeare and Elizabethan Drama. This Society was founded under the presidency of Fumio Nakajima (1961-75). His successors as President were Jiro Ozu (1975-88), Yasunari Takahashi (1989-97), Yasuo Tamaizumi (1997-99), Tetsuo Kishi (1999-2001), Yuji Kaneko (2001-05), Akiko Kusunoki (2005-09), Mami Adachi (2009-13), Haruo Nakano (2013-15), Arata Ide (2015-2019), Shoichiro Kawai (2019-2021), Minoru Shinozaki (2021-2023), and Tatsuro Sato (2023- ).
One of the most memorable events in the history of the Society was the Fifth World Shakespeare Congress of 1991, which the Society hosted. This Congress was attended by more than 700 delegates from over 40 countries around the world.
Contact
Office
The Shakespeare Society of Japan
c/o Professor Tatsuro Sato
Department of English, Faculty of Humanities, Japan Women's University
2-8-1 Mejirodai, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8681, Japan
e-mail:info@s-sj.org
Committee
President: Tatsuro Sato
Executive Committee: Choonmi Lee, Takashi Izawa, Daniel Gallimore, Asuka Kimura, Tomonari Kuwayama, Junji Kobayashi, Hiroyuki Kondo, Kumiko Hilberdink-Sakamoto, Tomoko Takeyama, Emiko Danno, Masayuki Doi, Hiroshi Matsuoka, Yukiko Matsuda, Kyoko Matsuyama
Auditor: Minoru Shinozaki, Hiromi Fuyuki
April 2025 – March 2027