The pre-show talk at the Minamiza had the whole house roaring. I half wondered if I’d wandered into a comedy theatre. Ukon, as expected (laugh). Then Onnagoroshi Abura no Jigoku flipped the mood completely: Kazutaro’s Okichi, somehow elegant even in the darkest moment… the swing between the two was something else. Today, once again, was the best.
What is the March Hanagata Kabuki?
Every March, the Minamiza in Kyoto holds the “March Hanagata Kabuki,” a spring fixture built around the younger generation of actors — the hanagata, the up-and-coming stars. This year it centred on three of them: Kazutaro Nakamura, Ukon Onoe, and Hayato Nakamura. It also fell on the 300th anniversary of the death of the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon, so both the morning and afternoon programs were made up of his works.
The run was split into a Pine Program and a Cherry Program, and the one I saw this time was the Cherry Program: Onnagoroshi Abura no Jigoku (The Woman-Killer and the Hell of Oil) and Masakado.
Minamiina appears, and a photo-friendly opening
Before the main program comes a section called the Habakari Nagara Tebiki Kojo — a friendly little guide to enjoying the plays. This is in which Minamiina, the Minamiza mascot, makes an appearance.
And during this opening, there is a short window in which photos are allowed.
The tricky part is timing. Before the show, everyone is careful with phone manners, and then the photo window arrives all at once. By the time my iPhone was ready, the best moment had nearly passed.
For this opening only, I wish there were a small heads-up that a photo time is coming. I waited as calmly as I could, and the second the screen came alive, I took a quick burst of photos (laugh). Honestly I could have gone home satisfied right there. Exhausting.
As for the talk itself, Ukon kept the whole hall laughing. The light mood made the contrast with the play that followed feel even stronger.
Onnagoroshi Abura no Jigoku — elegant even in death
From that cheerful mood, a complete shift. Onnagoroshi Abura no Jigoku is one of Chikamatsu’s domestic dramas: a young man named Yohei, hounded by debt, finally lays hands on Okichi, the wife of an oil merchant.
The climactic scene is genuinely harrowing — the kind that simply makes you go “yiiikes!” out of pure fear. The struggle plays out on a floor slick and slippery with spilled oil, and it left me holding my breath right along with it. And yet Okichi, played by Kazutaro, stays somehow alluring even in that final scene… terrifying, but I couldn’t look away.
And Yohei (Hayato) is just an unbelievable piece of work. Raising a hand against another person because you’re short on money — it’s genuinely awful. The role was so awful that I almost started disliking Hayato himself… not that I actually did (laugh). When a role is so hateful you nearly turn on the actor, well, that’s just proof of how good the performance is.
A trading-card-style giveaway, and the hunt for Takiyasha-hime
This run came with an admission gift: a card featuring artwork from Masakado. The catch — you didn’t know which one you’d get, like a trading card.
And here’s the thing: before I even registered what was being handed out, I reflexively turned it down! Why?! Right? But my body just blurted out, “no thank you.” So foolish. My biggest blunder of the year.
I can only imagine the staff member handing them out went, “…wait, you don’t want one? Huh? You’re declining?!”
But I really, really wanted Kazutaro’s Takiyasha-hime, so afterwards I explained myself at the information desk and they kindly gave me one. Truly sorry for being so silly.
I only managed to come once this time, so everything rode on this single draw. And there it was — the Takiyasha-hime I’d been after! I was over the moon.
Wrapping up
Laughing, cowering, and finally riding the highs and lows of a giveaway card — it was a day in which the looseness and the heat of hanagata kabuki sat side by side. A stage carried by the younger generation has a certain lightness in the air of the house too, easy to drop in on even on your own.
Next time I go to a hanagata performance, I’m determined not to reflexively decline the admission gifts (laugh). Absolutely not. If they hand me one, I’ll reflexively take it!
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