At the beginning of the 20^th century, several Japanese theatre troupes travelled to the United States and Europe. On the one hand, they studied contemporary Western theatre and experienced the Western world; on the other hand, they staged some ‘westernised’ kabuki performances. These amused Western audiences, who believed that what they were seeing was authentic Japanese theatre. World War I put an end to these popular events, and new Japanese troupes did not arrive in Europe until 1930. In this year, Tokujirō Tsutsui and his company left Japan to perform ‘hybridised’ kabuki plays in the West. These performances actually were a mixture of simplified kabuki, kengeki (sword drama), and shingeki (western drama). In the present paper, I will briefly introduce the company and their route through Europe, focusing on their visit to Budapest, Hungary. By analysing articles in the Hungarian press about the company, I will point out that besides absolute admiration for the exotic Japanese artists, an expert and critical attitude also appeared towards the performances, even though this form of theatre had never been seen before in Hungary.