Kabuki

October Program at the Kabukiza Theatre: Part 3 (October 2025)

Part 3 (Cast A) of the full-length Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees, marking Shochiku's 130th anniversary. Danko Ichikawa's fox Tadanobu was adorable and heartbreaking, with unaju before the show and medetai-yaki at last.

2025.10.06

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

September Program at the Kabukiza Theatre: Single Act Tickets (September 2025)

A free afternoon appeared out of nowhere, so I booked a Single Act Ticket online the night before and popped in for just one act, Kamo Zutsumi.

2025.09.16

Kabuki

July Program at the Kabukiza Theatre: Evening Show (July 2025)

I came for 'Chō no Michiyuki', danced by Somegoro Ichikawa and Danko Ichikawa — delicate and lovely at first, then swept into the torments of hell. With 'Onihei Hankachō: Kettō' starring Koshiro Matsumoto, and a long-awaited medetai-yaki.

2025.07.14

Kabuki

March Program at the Kabukiza Theatre: Kanadehon Chūshingura (March 2025)

A full day of Chūshingura at the Kabukiza — a sajiki box seat for the Matinee, the second floor for the Evening Show. Ukon's fiery Wakasanosuke, Nizaemon and Shichinosuke at the Ichiriki Teahouse, plus a bentō and a medetai-yaki along the way.

2025.03.17

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

Kabuki NEXT Lord of the Lies (December 2024)

Kabuki NEXT Lord of the Lies, seen from the front row of the second balcony. Somegoro's Shuten was perfection itself, Tokizo's Tsuna simply had it all, and the Shinkansen-style music won me over completely.

2024.12.05

Kabuki

The Kaomise Maneki Boards at the Minamiza Theatre (December 2024)

No tickets for me this year, but just seeing the maneki boards up at the Minamiza was enough to make me giggle. A mini report on the sign that winter has come to Kyoto.

2024.12.01

Kabuki

September Program at the Kabukiza Theatre: Evening Show (September 2024)

Watching the Shuzan-sai Evening Show from a seat right beside the temporary hanamichi. The which-bank-to-sit-on dilemma of Yoshinogawa, a luxurious cast for Kanjincho, a bromide photographed against the real stage, and a medetai-yaki dash.

2024.09.23

Kabuki