Kabuki

Cinema Kabuki: The Tale of Genji – Rokujo no Miyasudokoro no Maki (October 2025)

After missing out on Kabukiza tickets for The Tale of Genji: The Lady of Rokujo, I caught it as Cinema Kabuki instead. Somegoro as Hikaru Genji left me wanting to see it live more than ever.

2025.10.13

Kabuki

Somegoro Ichikawa Kabuki Dance Performance: Kiwami (October 2025)

A performance by Somegoro I had long wanted to see. A kabuki dance program, Kiwami, at the Cerulean Tower Noh Theatre, with full focus on the movement of suodori.

2025.10.05

Kabuki

New Year Asakusa Kabuki: Parts 1 & 2 (January 2025)

I watched both Part 1 and Part 2 of the New Year Asakusa Kabuki in one day: the same Ehon Taikoki twice with alternating casts, plus the hilarious Boshibari.

2025.01.17

Kabuki

January Program at the Osaka Shochikuza Theatre (January 2025)

The Nizatama duo reunited at the Osaka Shochikuza for the first time in 19 years. A perfectly in-sync couple in Osome Hisamatsu Ukina no Yomiuri, and in the long-awaited Kanda Matsuri, a Nizaemon so dashing you would never guess he is in his eighties. A solo outing to an auspicious New Year's program.

2025.01.13

Kabuki

September Program at the Minamiza Theatre: One Stormy Night (September 2024)

Gabu's voice from the film, now live on stage. Ichitaro's Mei and Takematsu's bespectacled Haku, cuteness at full tilt. A solo theatre diary of One Stormy Night at the Minamiza, and the cross-species friendship that brought me to tears — plus a matcha parfait at Nadaman and special-edition yatsuhashi to take home.

2024.09.16

Kabuki

Shikoku Konpira Grand Kabuki: Part 1 & Part 2 (April 2024)

My first time at the Kanamaru-za, Japan's oldest playhouse, for the 37th Shikoku Konpira Grand Kabuki. Laughs from Somegoro and Koshiro, Jakuemon's hand-powered flying scene right beside the hanamichi — and somehow I didn't eat a thing all day. A back-to-back solo day out.

2024.04.15

Kabuki

March Program at the Minamiza Theatre: Cherry Program (March 2024)

Roaring laughter at Ukon's pre-show talk, a breathless Onnagoroshi Abura no Jigoku, and a lottery card that made my day. A solo trip to the Minamiza's spring hanagata kabuki.

2024.03.21

Kabuki

December Program at the Minamiza Theatre: Matinee (December 2023)

The Minamiza Kaomise celebrating Ichikawa Danjuro XIII's name succession and Ichikawa Shinnosuke VIII's stage debut: Somegoro's endearing Yogoro, tears at a ten-year-old's debut, and Takashi Murakami's celebratory curtain.

2023.12.09

Kabuki