Sakae Kubo

Sakae Kubo was a Japanese playwright and director. Kubo studied and translated German literature at Tokyo Imperial University and then soon he became the disciple of another famous playwright and theatre director, Kaoru Osanai. From his mentor, Kubo had adopted Shingeki theater, a new type of drama that developed in Japan in the early 20th century under the influence of Western-style theater. To honor the death of his teacher, Kubo began to write one of his most famous works, which was The Land of Volcanic Ash: A Play in Two Parts, translated by David Goodman. This play was most recognized for its focus on socialism that was depicted in pre-war Japan. It is seen as realist drama, for it describes the struggles of a reform-minded intellectual in the Hokkaido countryside which took place during the Soviet famine of 1932–33.