Fear of Love and Other Plays and Essays

At sunset above a quiet sea, a man and a woman debate friendship, desire, and the dangers of becoming lovers. Their conversation in Fear of Love turns by degrees from teasing to confession, then returns the next morning in a different and unexpected form. In The Reformatory Drum, a mother and daughter bring a mischievous boy to an institution whose reassuring promises give way to an unsettling encounter.

Kishida Kunio’s two plays accompany seven essays and brief reflections. He considers what happens between acts, revisits Japanese theater after years abroad, remembers Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, and explores the difficult work of translating dialogue. Extracts from Jules Renard’s diary and a tribute to Charles Vildrac reveal contrasting ways of understanding an artist’s character.

This complete selection preserves the plays’ songs, pauses, stage directions, and deliberately uncertain moments. Concise notes explain names, allusions, publication discrepancies, and period language. Kishida’s wit and exacting theatrical judgment meet a persistent concern with how people speak, perceive one another, and conceal their feelings.