The quick changes had me on the edge of my seat, but what stayed with me most was the little fox after he gets the hand drum back — so adorable, and a little heartbreaking. Danko Ichikawa’s fox Tadanobu… I was so happy to see it. My seat was on the second floor, far from the hanamichi walkway, but as always, it was the best night.
What is the full-length Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees?
This year, the Kabukiza celebrated the 130th anniversary of Shochiku’s founding by staging all three great classics of the kabuki repertoire: The Treasury of Loyal Retainers in March, Sugawara’s Secrets of Calligraphy in September, and, as the grand finale, Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees (Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura) in October.
What’s more, it was performed as a full-length play in three parts, with a double-cast arrangement — Cast A and Cast B. What a luxurious line-up. I saw Part 3, Cast A: the gorgeous dance Yoshinoyama (“Mt. Yoshino”) and Kawatsura Hōgen Yakata (“The Mansion of Kawatsura Hōgen”), better known as Shi no Kiri — a celebrated scene about the love from parent to child.
A slightly bittersweet seat on the second floor
My seat this time was on the second floor, on the right side as you face the stage. The Kabukiza really is a big theatre, and from that side the hanamichi — the walkway that runs through the audience on the left — is quite a distance away. Out came the opera glasses, naturally.
And that seat made Yoshinoyama quietly heartbreaking… That day, Ukon Onoe was singing the lead kiyomoto part as Kiyomoto Eijudayū, and yet from my seat, the musicians’ platform was just out of view. I could tell it was him by his voice, and if I straightened my back I could catch a glimpse. But you can’t lean forward in the theatre, so I just kept snapping my posture upright at random moments (lol). Why, of all times, did I book a second-floor seat…? Was it for Danko’s flight over the hanamichi? But if that was the plan, shouldn’t I have booked the left side of the second floor?! Wrong either way… the agony…
Danko’s fox Tadanobu is simply adorable
The highlight of Part 3 is, without question, Shi no Kiri. Hidden within Satō Tadanobu, Yoshitsune’s loyal retainer, is a young fox who longs for the hand drum Hatsune — made from the skins of his parents. The quick changes from the real Tadanobu to the fox Tadanobu, and the distinctive “fox speech”, are the great attractions.
Danko’s fox Tadanobu — the sharpness of the quick changes kept my eyes glued to the stage, but the way the little fox moves once the drum is back in his paws is just unbearably adorable. Joyful, yet with a trace of sadness. His longing for his parents came through so directly that it brought a lump to my throat.
Cast A’s Shi no Kiri comes with the chūnori — the flight through the air — in the Omodakaya style. The thing is, the flight passes over the hanamichi, so from a seat far away from it, it is inevitably a distant view. Apparently, from the box seats along the hanamichi, you can watch it right up close… The grass looked just a little greener over there. Next time, that seat. No — the third floor. I really did fumble the ticket this time.
Unaju at Chikuyōtei before the show
Part 3 starts in the evening, so I fuelled up beforehand with unaju — grilled eel on rice in a lacquered box — at Chikuyōtei. That moment when you lift the lid off the box: that’s the good part. Same eel, but I am firmly team unaju over unadon, the bowl version. (Well, isn’t everyone?)
The medetai-yaki, at last: a victory dance
And this time, finally… I got my hands on a medetai-yaki — the Kabukiza’s celebratory take on taiyaki, a fish-shaped cake filled with sweet bean paste and mochi. I want one every single time, but from the short intervals to a stomach already full, I somehow keep missing out. I have made peace with not always getting one — but on the days I do, there is a full victory dance going on in my heart. I love it enough to give it a whole page of its own. If only every taiyaki came with mochi inside.
Final thoughts
There were blind spots from my second-floor seat, but with Danko’s adorable fox Tadanobu, unaju at Chikuyōtei, and the long-awaited medetai-yaki, it was more than enough of a good night. The ticket, though — total fumble. (← Still going on about it. lol)
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