A talk show at Hankyu Umeda Main Store with two kabuki actors: Kōshirō Matsumoto, joined by Kazutarō Nakamura. Even the shop windows had gone full kabuki, while during the talk I laughed out loud, nodding so hard my head nearly fell off. Once again, today was simply the best.
A Talk Show Ahead of the Kaomise at Minamiza
This talk show was one of the kabuki specials in a store-wide autumn campaign at Hankyu Umeda Main Store, celebrating Japanese beauty, craft, tradition. The two actors, who will appear in the Kichirei Kaomise Kōgyō at Minamiza Theatre in Kyoto this December, came to chat with us a little ahead of time.
Kaomise (literally “face-showing”) is a winter tradition in Kyoto, when maneki (wooden signboards bearing the actors’ names) line the front of Minamiza. Leading actors from Tokyo as well as the Kyoto–Osaka region come together for this special run.
It’s the one that makes you go, “Ah, the end of the year is here again~.”
The venue was the Festival Plaza on the 9th floor. No numbered tickets: you simply sat wherever there was space.
To be honest, with such big names coming, I was so puzzled (“the Festival Plaza?!”) that I even contacted the store beforehand to check (haha).
The Shop Windows Went Full Kabuki
When I reached the store, every shop window had turned kabuki! The display, titled “KABUKI EVOLUTION” with Shochiku as supervisor, uses cords to express the world of each play.
On display were Renjishi (Twin Lions), Matsubame, Fuji Musume (The Wisteria Maiden), plus Dōjōji (the temple-bell dance).
My favourite was Fuji Musume. The purple tones were lovely, as were the costume, the wisteria blossoms, the hat: every prop was lovely too.
Still, the one that feels most “kabuki!” is probably the pine of Matsubame (a backdrop with a large pine tree, modelled on the Noh stage). It’s a must for matsubame-mono plays.
Shop windows that look beautiful even from a distance.
The 1st-floor concourse windows are on display until 9 November, apparently.
I wonder if I can go see them once more~.
Sitting on the Steps of the Festival Plaza
You can get into the Festival Plaza from every direction, so I first did some shopping at Feiler on the 10th floor, then sat down on the steps nearby.
The Kaomise flyer I was handed also had an ad for Rokusei’s theatre bento. How lovely! This year I’d like to go with the Rokusei bento~🫶 (says the one who hasn’t even got a Kaomise ticket yet. Getting ahead of myself.)
That said, if you sit on these steps for a long time, your bottom gets cold…
What Stayed with Me from the Talk
The talk started at 11 on the dot. The MC was radio personality Yukinobu Kami. The two came out in haori jackets with hakama. Kōshirō, so cool~! Kazutarō, so lovely~~~🫶
I won’t write it all down. Let’s call the talk a privilege for those who were there (haha).
Impressions of Each Other: A Mountain of Papers
It began with their impressions of each other. According to Kōshirō, the area around Kazutarō’s dressing-room desk is piled high with research materials. Yet whenever you ask him something, he pulls it out of the pile in no time; a very studious person, apparently.
Kazutarō laughed that he couldn’t tell whether he was being praised, to which Kōshirō replied that he must know where everything is, though. It was just like a mother explaining to others about her son who can’t tidy up. Too funny (haha). He must be a creative person. Somehow I picture people like that with messy desks (haha).
Laughing Out Loud at the Double-Casting Story
At the Kaomise, the title role in Kōchiyama (The Tea-ceremony Priest Kōchiyama) is double-cast: Nizaemon Kataoka in some performances, Kōshirō in others. But it isn’t split half-half. Nizaemon has two-thirds, so Kōshirō’s days are the rare ones, precious, as he put it. So clever. I burst out laughing.
Of course, if I had time, I’d want to see both!!!! Last month I saw Nizaemon’s Numazu. I’ve seen Kōshirō’s Numazu too, but that was ages ago at Konpira Kabuki in Shikoku, so there’s quite a time gap… Comparing the same role within a short period would be such a luxury. Too much of a luxury, maybe, but that’s the real joy of double casting, isn’t it!! (haha) I’d like to push myself to juggle my schedule… (Can I even get tickets?!)
Nodding So Hard My Head Nearly Fell Off at Kami’s Hosting
Actually, the person who caught my attention was the MC, Kami. His voice had such a soothing tone; his questions, his way of talking: all perfect.
With a different cast, the same play looks different, so try both Program A plus Program B. From a 3rd-floor seat versus a 1st-floor seat, the view is totally different too, which is fun. I nodded so hard at this that my head nearly fell off (haha).
He must be someone who knows the stage really well. Wonderful.
Wrapping Up
The 40-minute talk was packed with content; I never got bored. It was so much fun.
I’d been planning to take notes so I could remember later, but everyone around me was snapping away, some even filming. No need to switch off your phone, either. If only I’d recorded it, I could have listened again (haha). Get too used to regular theatre-going, it seems, you end up getting it wrong at a talk event like this…
Right after the talk, I went for a coffee to try my luck at the general ticket sale for a benkyōkai (small study performance) by kōdan storyteller Hakuzan Kanda. I couldn’t get a ticket (sob).
Lost out on Hakuzan, but the talk was a thoroughly satisfying 40 minutes.
