The Reception of Max Weber's Cubist Poems (1914) in Taisho Japan

In this paper, 1 I analyse the Japanese reception of Cubist Poems, a collection of experimental poetry published in 1914 by the American painter Max Weber (1881-1961).(2) First, I provide information on this little-known collection and its author, before offering a general description of the field of cultural production in 1910s and 1920s Tokyo, a period that roughly corresponds to the reign of Emperor Taisho (1912-1926). I employ a number of theoretical tools drawn from the works of Pierre Bourdieu. Part 2 of the paper is structured as a historical survey of the presentation of Cubist Poems in 1914-1925 Japan. In the Japanese cultural world, Weber's collection attracted an interest that was unparalleled in any other country, perhaps even in the English-speaking world. Finally, I offer interpretations of the causes and characteristics of this reception.