name succession

Kabuki

Hakataza Grand Kabuki: Matinee (June 2026)

A solo trip to Fukuoka for a father-and-son name succession at the Hakataza. Banners along the Kawabata arcade, the celebratory curtain seen from straight below, 12-year-old Kikunosuke's Umeomaru, and Kikugoro's Ibaraki Doji - a matinee on closing day.
2026.06.24
Kabuki
Kabuki

Hakataza Grand Kabuki: Evening Show (June 2026)

My first visit to the Hakataza, for the naming-ceremony Evening Show of Kikugoro Onoe VIII and Kikunosuke Onoe VI. Wild over Hirohiko Araki's stage curtain, gasps from the house at Danjuro's otokodate, tears at the father-and-son Renjishi - a solo night full of serendipity.
2026.06.23
Kabuki
Kabuki

December Program at the Minamiza Theatre: Matinee (December 2025)

The kaomise at Kyoto's Minamiza Theatre: watching the maneki signboards go up, the theatre's one-of-a-kind chikuma decorations, a MOYNAT stage curtain, Nizaemon's Shunkan, and a mad interval dash for nishin soba.
2025.12.10
Kabuki
Kabuki

Kaomise at Kyoto’s Minamiza Theatre: Evening Program (December 2023)

The Evening Show of the Minamiza kaomise celebrating Ichikawa Danjuro XIII's name succession: Nizaemon's sublime Yuranosuke, a Stage Announcement that nearly made me cry, and the whole audience shouting "Naritaya!" together.
2023.12.10
Kabuki