Retired Professor
Asian Theatre: Japanese Focus
*In Memoriam
James R. Brandon was a force in the development of Asian theatre studies starting in the 1960s with work on Southeast Asian, pan-Asian, and especially Japanese forms. His directing and teaching at the University of Hawaiʻi helped build a program where performance of Asian genres and scholarship intertwine. He was an accomplished director, author, translator and playwright.
In 1965, along with Andrew T. Tsubaki and Farley Richmond, he founded the Afro-Asian Theatre Project, which after a series of reorganizations has been known as the Association for Asian Performance as of 1987. He also co-founded the Asian Theatre Journal with Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak in 1984.
James R. Brandon passed away in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi on September 19, 2015 at the age of 88. A Celebration of Life event was held at Kennedy Theatre on November 29, 2015. For the event, family and friends compiled a “script” of excerpts from the many tributes and reminiscences of Jim’s life and work posted by colleagues, students, and friends. At the event, readings from this script by former students and friends were interspersed with images from Jim’s life.
Click here to visit the James R. Brandon Memorial Page
Selected works by James R. Brandon
- Authored books
- Brandon, James R. (2008). Kabuki’s Forgotten War: 1931-1945. Honolulu, H.I.: University of Hawai’i Press.
- Brandon, James R. (1976). Brandon’s Guide To Theater in Asia: Where To Go, How To Get There and What To Expect. Honolulu, H.I.: University of Hawai’i Press.
- Brandon, James R. (1967). Theatre in Southeast Asia. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
- Edited books
- Brandon, James R., ed. (1993). The Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Brandon, James R., ed. (1982). Chūshingura: Studies in Kabuki and the Puppet Theater. Honolulu, H.I.: University of Hawai’i Press.
- Brandon, James R.; Van M. Baumer, Rachel, eds. (1981). Sanskrit Drama in Performance. Honolulu, H.I.: University of Hawai’i Press.
- Translations
- Brandon, James R.; Leiter, Samuel L., eds. (2003). Kabuki Plays on Stage, Vol. 4: Restoration and Reform, 1872-1905. Honolulu, H.I.: University of Hawai’i Press.
- Brandon, James R.; Leiter, Samuel L., eds. (2002). Kabuki Plays on Stage, Vol. 3: Darkness and Desire, 1804-1864. Honolulu, H.I.: University of Hawai’i Press.
- Brandon, James R.; Leiter, Samuel L., eds. (2002). Kabuki Plays on Stage, Vol. 2: Villainy and Vengeance, 1773-1799. Honolulu, H.I.: University of Hawai’i Press.
- Brandon, James R.; Leiter, Samuel L., eds. (2002). Kabuki Plays on Stage, Vol. 1: Brilliance and Bravado, 1697-1766. Honolulu, H.I.: University of Hawai’i Press.
- Brandon, James R., ed. (1975). Kabuki: Five Classic Plays. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
- Brandon, James R., ed. (1970). On Thrones of Gold: Three Javanese Shadow Plays. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
- Brandon, James R.; Niwa, Tamako, eds. (1966). Two Kabuki Plays: The Subscription List and the Zen Substitute. New York: Samuel French.
- Academic journal articles
- Brandon, James R. (Spring 2014). “‘Democratic Kabuki’ for a ‘Democratic Japan’: 1945-1946”. Asian Theatre Journal. University of Hawai’i Press. 31 (1): 103–125.
- Brandon, James R. (Fall 2011). “The Association for Asian Performance: A Brief History”. Asian Theatre Journal. University of Hawai’i Press. 28 (2): 281–308.
- Brandon, James R. (Spring 2006). “Myth and Reality: A Story of Kabuki during American Censorship, 1945-1949”. Asian Theatre Journal. University of Hawai’i Press. 23 (1): 1–110.
- Brandon, James R. (December 1960). “Toward a Middle-View of Chekhov”. Educational Theatre Journal. Johns Hopkins University Press. 12 (4): 270–275.