FEBRUARY 2024

3 shows in Tôkyô (Kabukiza, Shinbashi Enbujô), 2 in Nagoya (Misonoza), 2 in Ôsaka (Shôchikuza) and 1 in Fukuoka (Hakataza)!

  • Living National Treasure Kataoka Nizaemon, Living National Treasure Nakamura Tôzô, Living National Treasure Nakamura Karoku, Nakamura Kankurô, Nakamura Shichinosuke, Nakamura Shikan, Nakamura Tokizô, Onoe Shôroku, Bandô Yajûrô, Nakamura Matagorô, Nakamura Shidô, Nakamura Baishi and Nakamura Kotarô perform at the Kabukiza !
  • Living National Treasure Nakamura Baigyoku, Ichikawa Danjûrô, Ichikawa Shinnosuke, Onoe Kikunosuke, Nakamura Jakuemon, Nakamura Kaishun, Ichikawa Udanji, Ichikawa Omezô, Ichimura Manjirô, Kataoka Ichizô and Ichimura Kakitsu perform at the Misonoza !
  • Kataoka Ainosuke, Nakamura Ganjirô, Nakamura Senjaku, Nakamura Kazutarô and Onoe Ukon perform at the Shôchikuza!
  • Matsumoto Kôshirô and Ichikawa Somegorô perform at the Hakataza!
  • Ichikawa Chûsha, Nakamura Kinnosuke, Nakamura Hayato, Ichikawa Danko, Ichikawa Monnosuke, Nakamura Yonekichi, Ichikawa En'ya, Ichikawa Emisaburô and Ichikawa Emiya perform at the Shinbashi Enbujô!
  • Kabukiza (Tôkyô)
    Dates 2 ~ 26 February 2024
    Saruwakasai Nigatsu Ôkabuki
    Saruwaka Festival February Grand Kabuki
    Matinée

    Shinpan Utazaimon (Nozaki-mura)

    Tsuri Onna

    Kagotsurube Sato no Eizame

    Evening

    Saruwaka Edo no Hatsuyagura

    Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura (Sushiya)

    Renjishi

    Casting

    Living National Treasure Kataoka Nizaemon, Living National Treasure Nakamura Tôzô, Living National Treasure Nakamura Karoku, Nakamura Kankurô, Nakamura Shichinosuke, Nakamura Shikan, Nakamura Tokizô, Onoe Shôroku, Bandô Yajûrô, Nakamura Matagorô, Nakamura Shidô, Nakamura Baishi, Nakamura Kotarô, Kataoka Kamezô, Bandô Kamezô, Bandô Shingo, Nakamura Kashô, Nakamura Hashinosuke, Nakamura Mantarô, Nakamura Tanenosuke, Nakamura Tsurumatsu, Nakamura Kantarô, Nakamura Chôzaburô

    Comments

    The February Grand Kabuki at the Kabukiza. The two programs commemorate the 12th anniversary (13th memorial service) of the passing away of Nakamura Kanzaburô XVIII, who passed away the 5th of December 2012.

  • Nozaki-mura: a farm girl Omitsu (Nakamura Tsurumatsu) is busy planning her marriage to Hisamatsu (Nakamura Shichinosuke) who has just returned to the country after leaving his post in the city in disgrace. Suddenly Osome (Nakamura Kotarô) appears. She is the daughter of the rich merchant Hisamatsu served and their love affair was the cause of his disgrace. Despite the best efforts of Hisamatsu's father Kyûsaku (Bandô Yajûrô), the course of true love cannot be changed. Omitsu decides to sacrifice her own love and to become a nun to save the young couple who would rather die than be separated.
  • Tsuri Onna: a dance based on a classical Kyôgen farce. A master (Nakamura Mantarô) longs for a wife and is told by the gods in a dream to go fishing for one. He is united with a beautiful princess (Bandô Shingo). His servant Tarôkaja (Nakamura Shidô) wants a wife as well, but when he goes fishing, is stuck with a very surprising companion, played by Nakamura Shikan in a rare, humorous, female role.
  • Kagotsurube: one of the most sensational plays of late Kabuki, it shows a humble, pockmarked merchant from the country named Sano Jirôzaemon (Nakamura Kankurô). He is wealthy, but because of the way he looks, has never thought that it would be possible to have a woman. He and his servant go sightseeing in the Yoshiwara pleasure quarters and a chance look at top courtesan Yatsuhashi (Nakamura Shichinosuke) who smiles at him, makes Jirôzaemon fall in love. However, the pleasure quarters are full of intrigue, and on the eve of the day that Jirôzaemon is to buy up Yatsuhashi's contract, her true love Einojô (Living National Treasure Kataoka Nizaemon) forces her to reject and humiliate Jirôzaemon in the middle of the celebratory banquet. Jirôzaemon seems to forgive her, but returns with the sword Kagotsurube to exact his revenge. Featuring also Living National Treasure Nakamura Karoku, Nakamura Tokizô and Onoe Shôroku.
  • Edo no Hatsuyagura: on its journey to Edo the troupe led by Izumo no Okuni (Nakamura Shichinosuke) and Saruwaka (Nakamura Kantarô) which is popular in Kyôto encounters the lumber merchant Manbê (Nakamura Shikan). He is on his way to present an offering to the shogunate family, but he is held up by ruffians. Saruwaka summons the young actors of his troupe and takes the lead in having them carry Manbê's offering. The magistrate gives Saruwaka an estate at Nakabashi in Edo as a reward, permits him to perform plays there and orders Manbê to build a theatre. Saruwaka rejoices at this and in return he performs a dance. Featuring also Nakamura Fukusuke and Nakamura Shidô.
  • Sushiya: this is one act of an epic originally written for the Bunraku puppet theatre. The full-length play shows the fate of various Taira generals in hiding after the victory of their enemy, the Genji. In this act, Koremori (Nakamura Tokizô), the heir to the Taira clan is hiding in a sushi shop disguised as a humble apprentice, and Osato (Nakamura Baishi), the daughter of the house, falls in love with him. However, Gonta (Nakamura Shikan), the evil son of the house plots to gain a reward by turning in Koremori to the top Genji general Kajiwara (Nakamura Matagorô), but in the end, he has a surprising change of heart in one of the most heart-rending scenes in Kabuki. Also featuring Living National Treasure Nakamura Karoku as Yazaemon, the proprietor of the sushi shop.
  • Renjishi: 2 entertainers dance a tale of the legendary shishi or lion-like spirits that live at the foot of a holy Buddhist mountain. There is a comic interlude with 2 Buddhist pilgrims. Then, the shishi themselves appear and perform their dance with wild shaking of their long manes. The dance shows a parent shishi forcing his cub to undergo harsh training in order to grow up strong. This theme is often associated with the training a parent actor gives his son. This performance features Nakamura Kankurô in the role of the parent shishi and his son Nakamura Chôzaburô in the role of the cub.
  • Sources: Earphone Guide Website or Shôchiku Kabuki Official Website

    Misonoza (Nagoya)
    Dates 1 ~ 17 February 2024
    Nigatsu Misonoza Ôkabuki
    February Misonoza Grand Kabuki
    Matinée

    Sannin Kichisa Tomoe no Shiranami
    (Ôkawabata Kôshinzuka)

    Waki Noboru Mizu-ni Koi Taki (Koi Tsukami)

    Uirô Uri

    Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura (Yoshinoyama)

    Evening

    Aioi Jishi

    Keian Taiheiki (Marubashi Chûya)

    Kôjô

    Kanjinchô

    Casting

    Living National Treasure Nakamura Baigyoku, Ichikawa Danjûrô, Ichikawa Shinnosuke, Onoe Kikunosuke, Nakamura Jakuemon, Nakamura Kaishun, Ichikawa Udanji, Ichikawa Omezô, Ichimura Manjirô, Kataoka Ichizô, Ichimura Kakitsu, Ichikawa Kudanji, Ôtani Hiromatsu, Nakamura Kangyoku, Nakamura Tamatarô, Ichikawa Otora

    Comments

    The shûmei of Ichikawa Danjûrô XIII and the hatsubutai of Ichikawa Shinnosuke VIII in Nagoya at the Misonoza.

  • Sannin Kichisa:
    (Three Thieves Named Kichisa)
    The playwright Kawatake Mokuami excelled at portrayals of thieves and this short scene, with its music and poetic lines, is one of his most famous. A beautiful young woman helps out a woman who is lost on the road. But she is actually Ojô Kichisa, a male thief who is disguised as a woman. He steals an immense sum of money that the woman is carrying and this leads to an encounter on this riverbank of three thieves, all with the name Kichisa. The two others Kichisa are Oshô Kichisa, a bonze turned thief, and Obô Kichisa, an ex-samurai turned thief Though they start out as rivals, they decide to become blood brothers and form a gang. Featuring Nakamura Kangyoku/Ôtani Hiromatsu as Ojô Kichisa, Ichikawa Omezô as Oshô Kichisa and Ôtani Hiromatsu/Nakamura Kangyoku as Obô Kichisa.
  • Koi Tsukami: a koi tsukami is a spectacular scene in a Kabuki drama, where a hero fights in real water (honmizu) the spirit of a giant carp. During the Edo period, it was developped by the Onoe clan, from Onoe Kikugorô I to Onoe Kikugorô III through Onoe Shôroku I. In modern times, it became the trademark of the Ichikawa Udanji line. "Waki Noboru Mizu-ni Koi Taki", a rarely-staged drama, was premiered in September 1914 at the Hongôza of the drama "Waki Noboru Mizu-ni Koi Taki" [more details] and it used the sekai of the Priest Seigen and the Princess Sakura. Starring Ichikawa Udanji and Nakamura Tamatarô in the roles of Takimado Shiganosuke (in reality the spirit of a giant carp) and Princess Kozakura.
  • Uirô Uri: there are many plays based on the revenge by the Soga brothers on Kudô Suketsune (Living National Treasure Nakamura Baigyoku), the man that arranged to have their father killed. In this particular play, this dramatic fight is transformed into light fantasy by showing one of the Soga brothers disguised as a peddler of uirô, a medicine that makes it possible to speak quickly and elegantly. The highlight of the play is a long speech full of puns and wordplays. Starring Ichikawa Shinnosuke as the peddler. Also featuring Nakamura Kaishun, Ichikawa Omezô, Kataoka Ichizô, Ichimura Manjirô and Ichimura Kakitsu.
  • Yoshinoyama: a dance travel scene from the epic "Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura". Now in exile and disgrace, Yoshitsune has left his lover Shizuka in the safekeeping of his trusted retainer Tadanobu. But she is unaware that this Tadanobu is actually a magical fox who has disguised himself to be near the treasured drum that Shizuka carries, a drum made from the skins of his fox parents. Starring Ichikawa Danjûrô as Tadanobu, with Nakamura Jakuemon as Shizuka. Featuring also Ichikawa Kudanji as Hayami no Tôta.
  • Aioi Jishi: shishi (mythical lion-like spirits) are usually thought of as vigorous masculine creatures, but when shishi dances were first adapted for Kabuki from the classical theatre, they were danced by actors portraying an elegant, feminine atmosphere. This dance is one of the earliest in the genre and stars onnagata female role specialists. Featuring Ôtani Hiromatsu and Nakamura Kangyoku.
  • Marubashi Chûya: this is a classic play by Kawatake Mokuami written in the Meiji Period, when Kabuki could show historical events. This is the story of Marubashi Chûya (Ichikawa Omezô), who plotted to overthrow the Edo government. He approaches Edo Castle pretending to be drunk, but has actually come to measure the depth of the moat. Unfortunately, he is observed by Izu-no-Kami (Ichikawa Udanji), one of the top officials of the shogunate. Later, Chûya has a dispute with his wife and his wife's father, that eventually leads to the failure of his revolt.
  • Kôjô: the close relationship between the actors and the audience is shown by these stage announcements, lavish ceremonies to commemorate various important events. In this case, all the stars of the cast assemble to celebrate the shûmei of Ichikawa Danjûrô XIII and the hatsubutai of Ichikawa Shinnosuke VIII.
  • Kanjinchô: probably the most popular Kabuki play today, it includes dance, comedy and the heart-warming pathos of a band of heroes during their last days. Disguised as a band of traveling priests the fugitive general Yoshitsune and his small band of retainers are stopped at a road barrier. They escape only through the quick thinking of the head retainer, a warrior priest named Musashibô Benkei, who improvises the text of an elaborate imperial decree. Having escaped danger Benkei and the others describe their days of glory and hardships on the road to escape in a moving dance. This program stars Ichikawa Danjûrô in the role of Benkei, with Nakamura Jakuemon and Onoe Kikunosuke as Yoshitsune and the barrier keeper Togashi.
  • Sources: Earphone Guide Website or Shôchiku Kabuki Official Website

    Shôchikuza (Ôsaka)
    Dates 2 ~ 18 February 2024
    Ôsaka Kokusai Bunka Geijutsu Purojekuto ~ Risshun Kabuki Tokubetsu Kôen
    Ôsaka International Culture and Arts Project ~ First Day of Spring Special Kabuki Performances
    Matinée

    Genpei Nunobiki no Taki

    Evening

    Shinpan Ukina no Yomiuri (Choinose)

    Renjishi

    Sonezaki Shinjû

    Casting

    Kataoka Ainosuke, Nakamura Ganjirô, Nakamura Senjaku, Nakamura Kazutarô, Onoe Ukon, Kamimura Kichiya, Nakamura Kikaku, Nakamura Toranosuke

    Comments

    Special Kabuki performances in Ôsaka at the Shôchikuza, as part of the 2024 Ôsaka International Culture and Arts Project, to celebrate the new year.

  • Genpei Nunobiki no Taki: a play in 3 acts about the early days of the rivalry between the Genji and Heike warrior clans.
  • Yoshikata Saigo: the farmer Kurosuke takes his daughter Koman (Nakamura Kazutarô) and his grandson Tarokichi to the warrior Kiso Yoshikata (Kataoka Ainosuke) who aims to revive the Genji clan. However, Yoshikata's ambition is found out by the Heike. As his mansion is surrounded by enemy Heike troops, he entrusts the pregnant Lady Aoi and the white banner of the Genji clan to Kurosuke and others, and dies a heroic death.
  • Chikubushima Yûran: keeping the white banner that Yoshikata entrusted to her close about her person, Koman loses sight of her father Kurosuke and others along the way. She shakes off her pursuers and jumps into Lake Biwa with the white banner. Noticing her, Heike warriors who have come to visit the shrine on Chikubu Island on the pleasure boat try to rescue her, but the warrior Saitô Sanemori (ACT) who is on another boat suddenly cuts off Koman's arm.
  • Sanemori Monogatari: Yoshikata's widow Lady Aoi takes shelter at Kurosuke's house on Lake Biwa. Kurosuke and his grandson Tarokichi have been fishing and bring home a woman's severed arm holding a white banner, the treasured symbol of the Genji clan. Two Heike samurai, Saitô Sanemori and Senoo Jûrô (Nakamura Ganjirô), arrive to interrogate Lady Aoi who is pregnant. As the baby boy of the Genji warrior is to be killed, Kurosuke wraps the woman's arm in baby clothes and insists that Lady Aoi gave birth to it. Hearing that, Senoo is enraged, but it is none other than Sanemori who stops Senoo and tries to convince him of it.
  • Choinose: Osome (Onoe Ukon) of the Aburaya pawnshop is in love with Hisamatsu (Nakamura Kazutarô), a shop apprentice. She is at a loss as her mother tells her to marry Yamagaya Seibê (Kataoka Ainosuke). The head clerk Zenroku (Nakamura Ganjirô) is secretly in love with Osome though he is much older than her. He plots with Matsuya Gen'emon (Nakamura Kikaku) to take over the Aburaya pawnshop, but Seibê prevents all of their schemes. Playing the role of the comical character Zenroku requires the acting style of Kamigata Kabuki, and ningyôburi (a way of Kabuki acting which imitates the exaggerated motions of the puppets in the Bunraku puppet theatre) is one of the highlights.
  • Renjishi: 2 entertainers dance a tale of the legendary shishi or lion-like spirits that live at the foot of a holy Buddhist mountain. There is a comic interlude with 2 Buddhist pilgrims. Then, the shishi themselves appear and perform their dance with wild shaking of their long manes. The dance shows a parent shishi forcing his cub to undergo harsh training in order to grow up strong. This theme is often associated with the training a parent actor gives his son. This performance features Nakamura Senjaku in the role of the parent shishi and his son Nakamura Toranosuke in the role of the cub.
  • Sonezaki Shinjû: a young merchant named Tokubê has long been in love with the courtesan Ohatsu and is diligently trying to buy out her contract. But he is swindled out of his money by someone he considered a friend. Then he is beaten and humiliated in the precincts of the Ikutama shrine. He sneaks into the teahouse where Ohatsu is and she hides him under the veranda. At this point, Tokubê's "friend" comes and calls him a criminal. Ohatsu fiercely defends Tokubê and asks whether he is prepared to defend his honor by committing love suicide. Silently, from under the veranda, he holds her bare foot and draws it across his neck. The journey to the forest where they commit love suicide is like a dream, half-way between this world and the next and has some of the most famous lines in Japanese theatre: "Farewell to this world and to this night, farewell. To what should we who go to our deaths be likened? We are like the frost on the road leading to the graveyard, vanishing with each step". Starring Onoe Ukon and Nakamura Kazutarô in the roles of Tokubê and Ohatsu.
  • Sources: Earphone Guide Website or Shôchiku Kabuki Official Website

    Hakataza (Fukuoka)
    Dates 3 ~ 18 February 2024
    Nigatsu Hanagata Kabuki
    February Young Actors Kabuki
    Program

    Edo no Yami Ayashi no Kagizume [In Japanese]
    (Akechi Kogorô to Ningenhyô)

    U no Tonosama

    Casting

    Matsumoto Kôshirô, Ichikawa Somegorô, Matsumoto Kingo, Sawamura Sônosuke, Ôtani Hirotarô, Kawai Yukinojô

    Comments

    A special program in Fukuoka at the Hakataza starring Matsumoto Kôshirô and his son Ichikawa Somegorô. The drama "Edo no Yami Ayashi no Kagizume", based on "Ningenhyô" ('The Were-Panther' in English), a novel of Edogawa Rampo, was premiered in November 2008 at the National Theatre.

  • Edo no Yami Ayashi no Kagizume: there are few writers who have been more popular than Edogawa Rampo (1894~1965). His pen name is based on Edgar Allan Poe and he introduced detective stories to Japan with his super detective Akechi Kogorô. The writer also was a master of the grotesque and erotic and created characters with strange passions, masquerading as chairs to get close to the beloved, trying to preserve the bodies of beautiful men and women by turning them into perfect looking mannequins. The November 2008 production at the National Theatre is a very unusual event, a new Kabuki play that dramatizes one of Edogawa Rampo’s most haunting and popular novels, "Ningen Hyô" ("The Were-Panther") about a man who has the lustful and bloodthirsty tastes of an animal and even resembles a leopard, with glittering eyes, huge mouth and sharp teeth. He stalks the women that are nearest and dearest to Kamiya Yoshinosuke and comes to battle the master detective Akechi Kogorô. Starring Matsumoto Kôshirô as Akechi Kogorô and Ichikawa Somegorô as the villain.
  • U no Tonosama:
    (The Cormorant Lord)
    This is a humorous dance drama concerning cormorant fishing in summer in Nagara River. A lord (Ichikawa Somegorô) enjoys dancing with his ladies-in-waiting to stave off the summer heat. As the heat will not let up, he summons his servant Tarôkaja (Matsumoto Kôshirô) and tells him to talk about ukai ('cormorant fishing') in his home village to distract him from the weather. When the lord asks him to demonstrate the act of cormorant fishing, Tarôkaja coaches his master in the role of the cormorant as a way of getting back at him for being pushed about.
  • Sources: Earphone Guide Website or Shôchiku Kabuki Official Website

    Shinbashi Enbujô (Tôkyô)
    Dates 4 February ~ 20 March 2024
    Program

    Yamato Takeru

    Casting

    Ichikawa Chûsha, Nakamura Kinnosuke, Nakamura Hayato, Ichikawa Danko, Ichikawa Monnosuke, Nakamura Yonekichi, Ichikawa En'ya, Ichikawa Emisaburô, Ichikawa Emiya, Ichikawa Juen, Ichikawa Seiko, Nakamura Fukunosuke, Nakamura Utanosuke, Kashima Noritoshi

    Comments

    Revival of the famous Sûpâ Kabuki drama "Yamato Takeru", a classic of the Omodakaya guild, in Tôkyô at the Shinbashi Enbujô. In the absence of Ichikawa Ennosuke, the eponymous role of Yamato Takeru is played by either Nakamura Hayato or Ichikawa Ennosuke III's grandson Ichikawa Danko.

  • Yamato Takeru: One of twin brothers, Prince Ousu (Nakamura Hayato/Ichikawa Danko), attempts to admonish his brother, Prince Ôusu (Ichikawa Danko/Nakamura Hayato), who is plotting rebellion. However, in his attempt to restrain his brother, Prince Ousu accidentally takes his life. Unaware of the circumstances, their father, the Emperor (Ichikawa Chûsha), becomes enraged and orders Prince Ousu to embark on a campaign to subdue the Kumaso people who refuse to submit to Yamato. The wife of Prince Ôusu, Princess Etachibana (Nakamura Yonekichi), pursues Prince Ousu as her husband's avenger. However, as she discovers Osu’s pure and gentle heart, she begins to admire him and eventually develops feelings for him, despite their initial adversarial relationship. Having arrived in Kumaso, Prince Osu successfully defeats the Takeru brothers, the leaders of the Kumaso, and in recognition of his bravery, he is bestowed with the name "Yamato Takeru" by the Kumaso Takeru. Joyfully returning to Yamato, Takeru finds that the Emperor still has not forgiven him, and he is now tasked with a campaign to subdue the Ezo people. Accompanied by the Great Lord Takehiko (Nakamura Fukunosuke), the journey is fraught with difficulties. Takeru is commanded to defeat the mountain deity on Mount Ibuki. This his final expedition. Takeru is attacked by a giant white boar (the manifestation of the mountain deity). He kills the boar but is cursed by a female demon and falls ill. On his return trip, Takeru dies while lamenting his long separation from and his longing for his wife Princess Ototachibana (Nakamura Yonekichi).
  • Sources: Earphone Guide Website or Shôchiku Kabuki Official Website

     
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