CONTENTS -- TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION: FROM THE GROUND UP -- PROLOGUE -- A DRIFTING COMMUNE -- THE RED TENT IN GOOD HEALTH -- A LOGIC SURPASSING ANY DECLARATION OF DETERMINATION -- THOSE SLIGHT STIRRINGS OF THE MAN IN THE WIND -- A GHASTLY MASTERPIECE WITH CRUEL INTENTIONS -- THE INTOXICATION OF A "MYTH" THAT SOARS -- THE APPEARANCE OF A NEW TALENT -- MINUS DYNAMICS, ALL SCOOPED OUT -- THE CROUCH AS A CRITIQUE OF THE MODERN -- AN OBSTINACY WELL WORTH MENTIONING -- A DRAMA OF A NEW AND FANCIFUL GEOGRAPHY -- HARVEST: AFTER A YEAR AND A HALF -- A FIRST TRIP TO A DISTANT VILLAGE -- A QUESTION TO THE MAN WHO BLEW THE FLUTE -- THE NÒ STAGE, NEWLY ACTIVATED -- MAKING THE CONNECTION: KILLING THE BEGGAR -- A HUMBLE SELF-EXAMINATION -- A SCENE OF RIPENING -- A CRITIQUE OF MIYAZAWA KENJI AS A TABLEAU VIVANT -- THE CONFLAGRATION OF AN EXPLODING LEMON -- THE WHIRLINGS OF A WORLD AT BIRTH -- LAUGHING OKINAWA -- A RIPENING OF MELODY -- YOHEI WHO LIVES ON -- A PLAY GOES ON "OUTSIDE THE WALLS" -- OBSTACLES TO ABANDONMENT -- IN THE MIDST OF A WEAKENED ART -- MACBETH IN A FOREST OF CHERRY TREES -- A DUCK WITH TWO DIFFERENT WINGS -- A DIFFUSED REFLECTION -- DECIPHERING MIYAZAWA KENJI WITH CRITICISM AND SYMPATHY -- THE BACHELORS WHO CONTINUE ON -- DREAMS THAT ARE RUFFIANS -- TWO BLANCHES -- THE MAGIC OF ASSORTED MIRRORS -- SIGNPOSTS ALONG THE WAY -- A SNACK BAR IN THE WOODS OF ATHENS -- LAUGHTER IN A GOTHIC MUSICAL -- THE POWER OF THE OLDER SISTER, THE POWER OF THE MIRROR -- DINING AND A SENSE OF FREEDOM -- A WORLD IN WHICH THE COMPOSITION IS NOW COMPLETE -- A SHOCK FROM BELOW THE BELT -- TSUKA KÒHEI S "STAIRCASE" -- THE POWER OF IMAGINATION LAVISHED ON A HOUSE -- MALCONTENT PASSIONS -- A PAINFUL SENSE OF DISTANCE -- MANKIND, AND THOSE THEATRICAL SLIPPAGES -- A WORLD IN WHICH THAT'S ALL WE CAN DO -- THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF A VISION ALREADY EXPERIENCED.

A FIGHT AGAINST FIXED FORMS -- THE SYMPATHIES AND DISJUNCTURES OF NOSTALGIA -- A TALE AFTER THE MYTHS HAVE CRUMBLED -- TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED YEARS: GAZING AT A SCRAP PILE -- A TIME BEFORE EVERYTHING DISSOLVES -- THE JIGSAW PUZZLE OF SEX -- SURPRISING THINGS HAPPEN -- THE DILEMMA OF A DRAMA WITH A CHORUS -- THE ADVENTURES OF NOSTALGIA -- MEDIEVAL PREACHING IN AN OUTDOOR SPACE -- THE RESULTS OF PRACTICAL ROMANCE -- A CRIME EXPLAINED, A CRIME UNEXPLAINABLE -- A QUICK GLIMPSE OF THE MEANING OF THE WORLD -- A NEST OF BOXES AT THE EDGE OF WAKING -- CLOSING IN ON THE SELF: ZEAMI AS "PERFORMER" -- THE DYNAMISM OF "THE CITY MULTITUDES" -- THAT FIRST KISS WITH THE TASTE OF RADIOACTIVITY -- A REFRESHING WIND SURPASSES ITS DOMAIN -- EPILOGUE -- PLAY TITLES -- NAMES OF THEATRE COMPANIES MENTIONED IN THE TEXT -- SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX.