JAPAN P.E.N. CLUB. The Japan P.E.N. Club (Nihon Pen Kurabu) is a nongovernmental organization formed by writers aimed at promoting discussion and expression, protecting freedom of the press, and furthering international cultural exchange. In 1935, Japan’s minister of foreign affairs received a request from the International P.E.N. Club to establish a branch in Japan. He then relayed that request to the foremost bundan (writer’s guilds), and Shimazaki Tôson was appointed to be the first president. The Club was not active during World War II but was reactivated in 1947 and reinstated as a member of the International P.E.N. Club. In 1957, Tokyo and Kyoto jointly hosted an International P.E.N. Club conference centered on the theme “The Mutual Influence of Oriental and Occidental Literature.” The Japan P.E.N. Club has been politically active throughout the years and has been historically liberal and antiwar in its political orientation. Other notable Japan P.E.N. Club presidents include Masamune Hakuchô, Shiga Naoya, Kawabata Yasunari, and Ishikawa Tatsuzô.
JAPONISME. The French term japonisme describes the intense interest in things Japanese that swept across Europe and America between 1860 and 1920. Japanese art objects made their way to France as Japan opened trade with the West in the early 1860s, including ukiyoe landscapes and portraits that caught the eye of such painters as van Gogh, James McNeill Whistler, Paul Klee, and Claude Monet. In the late 19th century, Japanese entertainers, such as Kawakami Otojirô’s theater troupe, performed Japanese music and dance at international expositions, inspiring Claude Debussy and Giacomo Puccini, among others, to incorporate Japanese melodies into their works. Much of the appeal came from the exoticism that surrounded Japan stemming from its isolation during the Tokugawa period and its emergence as a new market and cultural landscape. The momentum of japonisme allowed writers, such as Lafcadio Hearn, who mined the rich folklore of Japan in translations and adaptations, to flourish as they targeted the Western interest in Japanese life and customs.
JIDÔ ENGEKI. See MODERN THEATER.
JIYÛ MINKEN UNDÔ. See FREEDOM AND PEOPLE’S RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
JOSEI KAIHÔRON. See FEMINISM.