Review: November 2019 – the Festive Annual Kabuki Kaomise

PART ONE

The start of the Kabuki season, around November each year, is marked by what is referred to as the Kaomise (lit. face showing) performances. This is the time when the pre-eminent actors are seen on stage during performances intended to show off their skills. It has been a very important event in the Kabuki calendar in Edo, Osaka and Kyoto during and since the

Review: January 2019 New Year Kabuki: Part Two – Asakusa Kokaido Public Hall and the Kabukiza

Part two of a two part review!

Asakusa Kokaidō Public Hall Shinshun New Year Kabuki

The matinee kicked off with an Otoshidama – Nenshi Goaisatsu, a special kōjō (ceremony), for new year greetings during which one of the company appears on stage, on this occasion Onoe Matsuya, dressed in formal Edo era attire during which he described some of the conventions of Kabuki, highlights to watch out for in the upcoming performances and which are his favourite local hang outs.

…and of course the ever popular famous thief Ishikawa Goemon made his appearance with the first performance of the matinee in the very entertaining Edo style dance drama ‘Modorikago Iro ni Aikata’ (The Returning Palanquin). The two palanquin bearers, Yoshirō (Nakamura Tanenosuke), the chic one who is

Review: Tokyo Year End Kabuki – December 2018

Two reviews in one.

There were two main Tōkyō theatres holding end of year performances in December 2018. The National Theatre of Japan in Hanzōmon and the Kabukiza in Higashi Ginza, and a lucky attendance on the final auspicious day or senshūraku (lit. music of a thousand autumns, an old entertainment industry term for the final day of a performance run) at the Kabukiza andas a result was a full house.

The December 2018 Kabuki at the National Theatre of Japan was the Tōshi Kyōgen (full length play) Zoho Futatsu Domoe (The New and Improved Story of the

2nd Installment From Okamoto Kido’s Talks On Meiji Era Theatre – Under The Lamp

Part 14:  The scene at the opening of the new Kabukiza!

Kabuza Gossip – ‘Heart Warming Historical Tales of Kōmon’ (Zokusetsu Bidan Kōmon Ki) — Scholar, Amateur Kabuki Dramatist and Journalist Fukuchi Ōchi — The Appearance of Kabukiza Banzuke advertising posters – ‘The Fire Brigade Fight’ (Megumi no Kenka).

After the Great Earthquake disaster (of 1923) the appearance of the Kabukiza theatre building was once again anticipated. Also a large part of the

1st Installment From Okamoto Kido’s Talks On Meiji Era Theatre – Under The Lamp

Part 14 The Scene at the opening of the new Kabukiza!

Kabuza Gossip – ‘Heart Warming Historical Tales of Kōmon’ (Zokusetsu Bidan Kōmon Ki) — Scholar, Amateur Kabuki Dramatist and Journalist Fukuchi Ōchi — The Appearance of Kabukiza Banzuke advertising posters – ‘The Fire Brigade Fight’ (Megumi no Kenka)

Okamoto Kidō On The Kabuki Theatre Of The Meiji Period – Part One

First in a four-part series by kabuki collector Trevor Skingle!

Published as a series in 1935 and then in full as “Meiji Gekidan Ranpu no Moto ni te” (On the Theatre of the Meiji Period – Under the Lamp) by Iwanami Shoten in 1993. These extracts are from the serialisation which appeared in the late 1920s early 1930s in the Tokyo Kabukiza Monthly Kabuki Review magazine as

Tokyo Kabukiza Monthly Kabuki Review 15th February – 1st March 1930

First in a two-part series by Kabuki collector and researcher, Trevor Skingle!

Some time after acquiring the Sintomiza tsuji banzuke, I discovered two Kabuki magazines for sale by a Swiss dealer and purchased them. What followed was a long period of research and translation that revealed a wealth of information about a four month period of Kabuki performances at the Kabukiza in Tōkyō between February and May 1930. This issue, entitled the Cherry month edition, of the Tokyo Kabukiza Monthly Kabuki Review, which began publication in 1914 by Tanaka Sada, was number 62 covering the period 15th February – 1st March 1930 and was edited by Torii Kotondo (1900-1976) who was the title page editor whose real name was