Arthurian Legends in Japanese Pop Culture

Due to the national seclusion policy (1639–1854), the Japanese came to know Arthurian works at the end of the nineteenth century; and such sudden contact led to a peculiar reception of the legend. This chapter investigates how Japanese people have enjoyed Arthurian works roughly in three periods: around 1900, when non-medieval European materials by Alfred Tennyson, Wilhelm Richard Wagner and Joseph Bédier were popular; during the twentieth century, when American authors such as Thomas Bulfinch and Mark Twain became influential; and in the twenty-first century, when female King Arthurs prevail because of a Japanese game series entitled Fate . As a result, Excalibur and other Arthurian motifs are ubiquitous in Japanese pop culture these days, via games, comic books, juvenile novels and stage performances.