Adapting Shakespeare in Okinawa: Nakae Yūji’s A Midsummer’s Okinawan Dream and the aftermath of the Okinawa boom
Adapting Shakespeare in Okinawa: Nakae Yūji’s A Midsummer’s Okinawan Dream and the aftermath of the Okinawa boom

Summary/Abstract: A Midsummer’s Okinawan Dream (Yūji Nakae, 2009), a film adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (c. 1595-6), can be situated in the sociopolitical contexts of Japan in the 2000s, as it offers a critique of Japanese media’s representations of Okinawa during the Okinawa boom, or the rapid growth of mainland Japanese interest in the subtropical nature and traditional culture of Okinawa. This paper demonstrates how this crosscultural adaptation employs and modifies the elements of the play to comment on the consequences of the Okinawa boom, such as the touristic exploitation of the islands.

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