MISTAKES CAN BE EMBARRASSING

Shinto tori gates find their way onto the front walls in some American dojo, but that placement is culturally incorrect.

t turned out the company was producing a performance of the Puccini opera that tells the story of a doomed love between a French military officer and a geisha in early 19th-century Japan. The opera has come under fire for its stereotyped, utterly fanciful depictions of Japanese culture. The local company was trying to anticipate such criticism, and the director asked me,