On July 19 and 21, the Noh play Blue Moon Over Memphis will bring Elvis Presley's story to stages in Tokyo and Kyoto. In this English play, the lead actor wears a Noh mask modeled after the King of Rock 'n' Roll, complete with his iconic sideburns. The performance merges traditional Japanese and American cultures while maintaining the fundamental style of the 700-year-old Noh tradition to offer a unique theatrical experience.

Synopsis

American playwright Deborah Brevoort wrote the original play in 1993 after she was inspired by Noh theater. She incorporated Elvis Presley's lyrics into the script. Richard Emmert, Professor Emeritus at Musashino University and director of Theatre Nohgaku in Japan, adapted Brevoort's work, composing its music and shaping its performance script.

The narrative revolves around Judy, a devoted Elvis fan. She visits Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, on the anniversary of his death. There, she encounters an African American blues musician who welcomes her into Presley's world. Together, they engage in a poignant conversation by Presley's grave, but the musician mysteriously vanishes. Under the shimmering blue moonlight, Judy experiences a supernatural encounter with Presley's spirit.

How It All Began

Richard Emmert first encountered Deborah Brevoort's script around 2003 during a Noh workshop in New York. "I couldn't help but laugh at the unexpected combination of Noh and Elvis," he recalls. However, he also found that the script poignantly captured Elvis Presley's feelings of loneliness and exhaustion amidst his stardom. Emmert took on the task of adapting the script to fit the format of an English-language Noh performance.

Traditional Noh masks weren't suitable for portraying Elvis and the African American character accurately, so Emmert commissioned a Noh mask artist to create new ones. A mask with distinctive features and sideburns was crafted for Elvis. Another mask was modeled after the legendary 1930s blues singer Robert Johnson (1911-1938) for the African American character. New costumes were also introduced, such as a denim kimono for the supporting actor and a costume adorned with Presley's emblem. "We approached this project with utmost seriousness to ensure its authenticity as a Noh play," Emmert emphasized.

Reception

In 2018, the play was performed to great acclaim at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The audience particularly resonated with the chanting segments that incorporated lyrics from Presley's iconic songs like "Love Me Tender."

Reflecting on the performance, John Oglevee, who will also play the lead roles in the upcoming Japanese shows, discussed the significance of performing Noh in English. 

"At the UCLA performance, I felt that presenting the story in English allowed it to be conveyed more directly. Noh is not just a Japanese art form but a global one, with an energy that transcends language," he explained.

The program will also include a performance of the Noh dance Takasago (in Japanese) and the kyogen play The Owl (in English).

Okuma Auditorium at Waseda University

• Date: July 19, 2024, 5:30 pm (Doors open at 5:00 pm)
• Venue: Okuma Auditorium, Waseda University
• Admission: Free
• Reservations have reached maximum capacity

Kongo Noh Theatre

• Date: July 21, 2024, 2:00 pm (Doors open at 1:30 pm)
• Venue: Kongo Noh Theatre
• Admission: Free
• Please make reservations through the official website.

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(Read the article in Japanese.)

Author: Tomoko Iizuka, The Sankei Shimbun

Dr Ju Ik-jong is the author of a new book on the comfort women issue, Anti-Japan Tribalism: The Final Conclusion on the Comfort Women Issue (Bungeishunju, June 12, 2024). Dr Ju was in Tokyo on June 14. Political writer Takao Harakawa caught up with the South Korean economist for an interview for The Sankei Shimbun and JAPAN Forward.

The Anti-Japan Tribalism author argues that stories of "forced" wartime mobilization and "sexual slavery" surrounding comfort women issue are "fictional fabrications." At the same time, Dr Ju emphasizes the need to move past the comfort women issue. "The important thing is not to make it an issue between South Korea and Japan," he states. 

Key excerpts from the interview follow.

Ju Ik-jong on 'Anti-Japan Tribalism'

In your book, you claim that assertions of forced mobilization and sexual slavery by comfort women advocacy groups are "fictional fabrications." Could you elaborate?

The belief that Korean women were taken by the Japanese Imperial Army and made into sexual slaves has proliferated. This has further fostered anti-Japan sentiment in Korea and led to demands for apologies and compensation from Japan. 

However, many poor Korean families at that time often entrusted their daughters to brokers. Those brokers then coerced them into signing contracts for prostitution. It was an unfortunate reality, but comfort women were one part of that broader situation.

Wasn't this widely understood among those familiar with Korea under colonial rule?

Absolutely. During the more than 13 years of talks on Japan-Korea normalization, the comfort women issue was never framed as a consequence of colonial rule. Instead, it was viewed as a sorrowful tale of women from impoverished backgrounds. There was no discourse at the time about it being a sin of Japanese colonialism or a policy error. 

This issue only gained prominence in the 1990s, after many who had lived through the colonial era had passed away.

You also pointed out that Japanese researchers and activists supported South Korean comfort women advocates.

​​Indeed. Japanese left-wing scholars, including Yoshimi Yoshiaki (Professor Emeritus at Chuo University), were the ones who actually created it. They presented the perspective of comfort women as forcibly mobilized sex slaves. That view subsequently gained widespread acceptance. 

I examined the same sources they used and arrived at a different conclusion. If they were responsible researchers, they should respond sincerely to my findings.

More About the Author

Ju Ik-jong is also a co-author of the book, Anti-Japan Tribalism, The Root of the Japan-Korea Crisis (Miraisha and Bungeishunju), published in 2019. He earned his PhD from Seoul National University on the subject of Korean economic history under Japanese colonial rule. Furthermore, Ju was a visiting scholar at Harvard University. He has also headed the curatorial research department of the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History. A well-published author, Dr Ju is also a director at the Syngman Rhee School. 

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(Read the interview article in Japanese.)

Author: Takao Harakawa, The Sankei Shimbun