Kawatake Toshio : Kabuki - Baroque Fusion of the Arts

Translated by Frank & Jean Connell Hoff.
"Kabuki became a world theatre in the second half of the 20th century, 350 years after its founding. In the 21st century, kabuki's value as a universal product of the human imagination and as a representative of a distinctively Japanese aesthetic sensibility will grow. "Japanese theatre is a many-layered tradition that is not to be found in other countries; it flows on like a great river with many tributaries, and, thanks to its process of physical transmission, each genre of the traditional theatre parallels and coexists with the others without infringing upon them. The essence and form of this tradition is unlikely to change so long as Japan itself exists. And as kabuki, grounded in tradition, proceeds boldly forward into the new century along its dual pathway, its distinctly Japanese beauty will be disseminated to the rest of the world, and kabuki will continue to move and entertain audiences in Japan and worldwide."