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.
Kabuki 
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.
Others K-BALLET TOKYO: The Nutcracker (December 2024)
A long-overdue ballet outing at Christmas time. K-BALLET TOKYO's The Nutcracker at Orchard Hall: thrilling variations, a live orchestra, and a surprise burst of silver streamers at the curtain call. A solo theatre-going diary.
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.
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.
Bunraku November Bunraku Performance: Kanadehon Chushingura, Parts 1 and 2 (November 2024)
From 11 in the morning to past 8 at night, I made it through Kanadehon Chushingura from the opening act to Act Seven, Jagariko in hand. A breath-holding seppuku scene, my favourite pine curtain, and a lost phone to finish: my full-day run at the National Bunraku Theatre's 40th anniversary.
Nohgaku Osaka Castle Nishinomaru Takigi Noh 2024 (October 2024)
A front-and-centre seat, with Osaka Castle rising behind the stage. Two evenings of open-air noh by firelight: thrilling spider threads, a celestial maiden, and one very frightening demon. A solo theatre diary in blue and pink light.
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.
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.
Travel Walks Travel Walks: House of Light (September 2024)
A long-awaited overnight stay at James Turrell's House of Light. Watching the light program from the tatami, a bath that makes your body glow, stargazing with uninvited insects, and an unexpected refusal of Turrell at sunrise.