My very first time at the Kanamaru-za. It’s small — and I mean that in the best possible way! Just imagining that people back in the Edo period watched kabuki from this close was enough to send my excitement through the roof. Today, once again, was the best.
What is Konpira Kabuki?
The Kanamaru-za (formally the Former Konpira Grand Theatre) is Japan’s oldest surviving playhouse, in Kotohira, Kagawa. Built in 1835, it’s in which the “Shikoku Konpira Grand Kabuki” is held every April — said to be the herald of spring in the Shikoku region.
This run was the first in five years, held after the pandemic, and it was Somegoro’s debut at Konpira Kabuki. I’d wanted to go for ages, but then the pandemic wiped out the performances… so its return was something I’d been waiting for!
What amazed me most was that this whole playhouse runs entirely on human power. The revolving stage, the trap lifts, even the flying mechanism — all worked by hand, not by machines. And the lighting is natural light only: they adjust the brightness by opening and closing the light windows in three stages. When it’s time to dim the house, the ochako (the women who tend the theatre) slide the windows shut, one by one… or so I’m told. I say “so I’m told” because I was so absorbed in the stage that I never noticed it getting dark — I just suddenly thought, “Wait, why is it so dark in here?” (laugh)
To Kotohira, with Anpanman
The trip there was, of all things, on an Anpanman train! Even the in-car announcements were done by Anpanman, which lifted my mood a little all on its own (laugh). The journey to and from a performance is part of the trip, too.
Part 1: laughing, laughing, then a little teary
The first program paired Numazu with Hagoromo.
“Numazu” was just wonderful. Somegoro had his comic moments, and the back-and-forth with Koshiro kept me laughing. But as the story went on, it slowly turned toward “well, actually…” and grew sadder, ending on a hushed, sorrowful note. The way laughter and grief sit right next to each other is kabuki at its finest. I watched it again later on the livestream, and there are scenes that crack me up no matter how many times I see them — I burst out laughing on the stream too (laugh).
The one I was looking forward to most was “Hagoromo”. Jakuemon’s celestial maiden rises into the air on the Kanamaru-za’s famous “kakesuji”, a flying device. She floats up along and over the hanamichi (the walkway that runs out through the audience) toward the ceiling — and that flying, too, is all done by hand. My seat that day was right beside the hanamichi, so the maiden passed by right in front of me. What a view. And Somegoro, as Hakuryo, was so dashing. I think it every single time, but he’s just plain good-looking (laugh).
Part 2: Koshiro had me laughing the whole way through
Part 2 was “Shochikubai Yushima no Kakegaku” and the dance piece “Oshie-gusa Yoshiwara Suzume”.
“Shochikubai Yushima no Kakegaku” was another good laugh. Koshiro, as Beniya Chobei, single-handedly had the whole house in stitches. Somegoro was as handsome as ever, and Kazutaro, as Yaoya Oshichi, was a knockout beauty — utterly adorable. So much fun!! I want to see it again! The afterglow lingered long after the curtain came down.
For Part 2 I was in the front row of the second floor, over on the kamite (stage-left) side, looking down on the stage from a different angle. Getting to enjoy the Kanamaru-za from two different seats in a single day was a luxury only a back-to-back matinee-and-evening day can offer.
And then — I didn’t eat a thing all day
The round paper fans (uchiwa) were handed out at the entrance. Since I went in twice, once for each part, I came away with two. One to use and one to keep — how nice.
During the intervals I was peering at the food stalls out in the plaza, and just looking around ate up all my time. from Part 1 to Part 2 I set off, full of ambition, to climb the stone steps of Konpira-san — but that ran out of time too, and I scurried back to the theatre. In the end I never managed a proper meal all day; all I had was a funa-senbei (a local rice cracker) grabbed on the go. I’m starving over here…
Closing thoughts
My first Kanamaru-za was even more snug than I’d pictured, and that snugness was the whole charm. The actors are so close that you take in the laughter, the tears, and the flying maiden all up close. The entire time, I kept imagining what an Edo-period playhouse must have felt like. This really is something you can’t grasp until you experience it for yourself!
I missed out on food, but even that made it a day I won’t forget. Next time I come, I’ll climb Konpira-san for real — and actually eat my boxed lunch.
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