The Japan of Pure Invention

Long before Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation , long before Barthes explicated his empire of signs, even before Puccini’s Madame Butterfly , Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado presented its own distinctive version of Japan. Set in a fictional town called Titipu and populated by characters named Yum-Yum, Nanki-Poo, and Pooh-Bah, the opera has remained popular since its premiere in 1885. Tracing the history of The Mikado’s performances from Victorian times to the present, Josephine Lee revea