This paper first reviewed the discourse on theater space in the debate on modern theater improvement. In the debate between the subjects who were sharply opposed for modern theater, it is a very important question of what logic Hanamichi and the rotating stage were excluded or what status they tried to introduce. In short, Kencho Suematsu insisted on the abolition of Hanamichi, and Ogai Mori insisted on the theory of small theater against Suematsu’s theory of grand theater. Through this debate on theater improvement, the necessity of modern theater construction emerged, became the basis for the construction of the Imperial Theater in 1911, and the audience’s interest in the system and operation of the theater increased. The discourse of popular theater was developed as a genre to be pioneered in the theater world at the time, that is, the commonplace of art developed around intellectuals at the time, and it was the improvement of the theater that was placed in the middle of popular and entertainment discourse. Theater space pursued ‘scale’ and box office success, which was not opposed to the logic of cultural control. In the end, I think it is a matter to pay attention to in the future that the point of contact between the perspective of entertainment of art and the discourse surrounding the search for the grand theater can be a major motif as a culture of ‘empire’ in which the character of ‘popular’ theater is common. However, it will also be kept in mind that Japan’s imperial quest for ‘mission of civilization’ and the fact that ‘reversal’ is constantly attempted due to the self-life of the culture accepted by the colony.