Faubion Bowers (January 29, 1917 – November 17, 1999) was an American academic and writer in the area of Asian Studies, especially

Japanese theatre This article is an overview of traditional and modern Japanese theatre. Traditional Japanese theatre is among the oldest theatre traditions in the world. Traditional theatre includes Noh, a spiritual drama, and its comic accompaniment ; kabuki, ...

. He also wrote the first full-length biography of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. During the

Allied Occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States w ...

, he was General Douglas MacArthur's personal

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...

interpreter and aide-de-camp.

Biography

Bowers was born in

Miami, Oklahoma Miami ( ) is a city in and county seat of Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States, founded in 1891. Lead and zinc mining were established by 1918, causing the area's economy to boom. This area was part of Indian Territory. Miami is the capital of ...

. He graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1935 and the Juilliard Graduate School of Music in 1939. Bowers taught at

Hosei University is a private university based in Tokyo, Japan. The university originated in a school of law, Tōkyō Hōgakusha (, i.e. Tokyo association of law), established in 1880, and the following year renamed Tōkyō Hōgakkō (, i.e. Tokyo school of law ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

from 1940 to 1941. After the surrender of Japan, he was the interpreter for the advance party of 150 US personnel which flew into the Atsugi airfield on August 28, 1945. As MacArthur's interpreter he lived at the American Embassy with the MacArthur family, and served as interpreter at the initial meeting between MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito. While an official censor for Japanese theater he became its champion. After the war he taught at the New School for Social Research, and at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

as Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies. He also served as music editor or reviewer for various periodicals. Bowers became a respected authority on oriental art and culture, writing scholarly monographs on such subjects as

Indian dance Dance in India comprises numerous styles of dances, generally classified as classical or folk. As with other aspects of Indian culture, different forms of dances originated in different parts of India, developed according to the local tradi ...

and

, as well as a definitive two-volume biography of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. His book, ''

Japanese Theatre This article is an overview of traditional and modern Japanese theatre. Traditional Japanese theatre is among the oldest theatre traditions in the world. Traditional theatre includes Noh, a spiritual drama, and its comic accompaniment ; kabuki, ...

'', was published in 1952 and is highly recommended by

James Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and ...

, in his book on Japanese

ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk t ...

prints, ''The Floating World'', as "one of the foremost works of scholarship dealing with Japanese culture to come out of the occupation." He was married from 1951–1966 to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n writer

Santha Rama Rau Santha Rama Rau (24 January 1923 – 21 April 2009) was an Indian-born American writer. Early life and background While Santha's father was a Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin from Canara whose mother-tongue was Konkani, her mother was a K ...

. They had one son who, according to his parents, traveled widely and lived an affluent vagabond existence. Bowers was interviewed for

's Oral History Project in 1960. He wrote the first full-length biography of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915) in two volumes (1970, 2nd edition 1996) and was a member of the Bagby Foundation for the Musical Arts in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He died in New York City on November 17, 1999.

Kabuki

Bowers is known as ''The Man Who Saved Kabuki'' in Japan. While on his way to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

in 1940, he visited

Kabuki-za in Ginza is the principal theater in Tokyo for the traditional ''kabuki'' drama form. History The Kabuki-za was originally opened by a Meiji era journalist, Fukuchi Gen'ichirō. Fukuchi wrote kabuki dramas in which Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and ot ...

where he watched the famous

Kanadehon Chūshingura is an 11-act bunraku puppet play composed in 1748. It is one of the most popular Japanese plays, ranked with Zeami's '' Matsukaze'', although the vivid action of Chūshingura differs dramatically from ''Matsukaze''. Medium During this portion o ...

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is though ...

play, and was very moved by kabuki as an art form. Four years later he returned to Japan as General MacArthur's secretary during the American Occupation of Japan. At this time the

Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) to the Japanese government, aiming to suppress its "milit ...

thought kabuki should be banned for its portrayal of feudal values. Bowers was strongly against this, stating that "Kabuki is not only Japanese culture but world culture and must be preserved for the future." He promoted kabuki plays and instructed that a "Dream Team" cast of big kabuki stars should be assembled to perform "Kanadehon Chūshingura" in 1947. This performance and many others performed at the Tokyo Army College were a success, and the cast later performed the play in 1950 in East Coast venues across the US.

Awards

Bowers was awarded the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

in 1944, and an

Oak Leaf Cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a speci ...

in 1945. In 1985, Bowers was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the government of Japan.Pace, Eric. "Faubion Bowers, 82, Defender Of Kabuki in Occupied Japan"
''New York Times.'' November 22, 1999.

Publications

* * * * * * * * * * * * * (1st pub. 1970) *

Notes

References

* Brandon, James R
"Myth and Reality: A Story of Kabuki during American Censorship, 1945-1949,"
''Asian Theatre Journal, Volume 23, Number 1, Spring 2006, pp. 1–110. * Okamoto, Shiro
"The Man Who Saved Kabuki: Faubion Bowers and Theatre Censorship in Occupied Japan,"
translation by Samuel L. Leiter. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.

External links

- biography found at the Japanese American Veterans Association website

as found on the Japanese-American Veterans Association website
1969 audio interview of Faubion Bowers
(part 1 of 2)
1969 audio interview of Faubion Bowers
(part 2 of 2)
1969 'Camera Three' program on Kabuki
(with Faubion Bowers et al.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowers 1917 births 1999 deaths American expatriates in Japan Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure Writers from Oklahoma Columbia College (New York) alumni Juilliard School alumni Douglas MacArthur Interpreters Censors University of Kansas faculty The New School faculty 20th-century scholars 20th-century American writers Kabuki American people of World War II Hosei University faculty 20th-century translators