Helen Parker

Dr Helen Parker is a Lecturer in Japanese at the Asian Studies department of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures. Her main research interests lie in the traditional performing arts in Japan. Helen’s other research interests include: 

• Gender and cross-dressing in both traditional theatre and more recent forms such as the work of the all-female Takarazuka Revue Company
• The history of Japanese women, especially in the modern period 
• Issues in Japanese-English literary translation.

Helen’s current research project centres on kabuki and its cultural context, and examines the significance of the Ginza Kabukiza theatre, opened in April 2013, for its own community, the people of Tokyo and Japan and the international arts scene. She approaches this topic through the key themes of:

• space (the theatre as a place to share past memories and a future vision)
• interfaces (integration of the theatre with its location; fusion of old and new, found in both the design of the building and approaches to performance)
• identities (how activity in or around the theatre reflects Japanese national identity and the individual identities of users)
• the politics of culture (kabuki’s role in showcasing Japanese culture, and how it is linked to the concepts of soft power and nation branding.)

Helen is also working on kabuki history in the post-occupation period, with reference to a collection of photographs compiled in the period 1953-55 by kabuki scholars Aubrey and Giovanna Halford.