The middle class who has risen by the Industrial Revolution became a new bearer of theater culture in Britain of the second half in the Victorian Age. Although they have little cultural knowledge, new amusement was required for them who want imitation of high society, and the Savoy opera won popularity as a genre which suited their hobby. The most successful work is the “Mikado” which made fi ctitious Japan the stage. As The japonaiserie showed a wide spread those days, and as the Japanese village was opened in relation to it , they are said that it has infl uenced greatly to the idea of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert. But the charm of the “mikado” which was proud of explosive popularity is not simply an absurd thing. The image of the “Japanese” with whom the spectator was restrictively acquainted by a Japanese entertainer’s appearance, and the image and the story of the familiar anecdote which British people know well. We should not reappraise as a form of the new performing arts which the skill as a dramatist of Gilbert who created the reality in “the country which is not anywhere”, “Never-never-land”, and the skill as a new role, “drama director”.
