An English translation of ‘Meiji Gekidan: Ranpu No Moto Ni Te’ (Talks On Meiji Era Theatre: Under The Lamp) By Okamoto Kidō

Translation was undertaken for Kabuki fans who are unable to read Japanese!

Born October 15^th 1872 to Okamoto Keinosuke (a samurai retainer of the Tokugawa Shōgunate who, after the Meiji Restoration, went to work for the British Legation as an interpreter) Okamoto Kidō is best known outside of Japan for his mystery novel ‘The Curious Casebook of Inspector Hanshichi’. His family were avid Kabuki fans and well-connected in the theatre world. Though Kidō announced his intention at an early age to become a Kabuki playwright as a consequence of his father’s bankruptcy he had to skip University and

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

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

Second 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

A Kabuki Oshiguma (Face Pressing): A Relic From The Past

Three celebrated Kabuki actors imortalised on a silk artefact!

Kabuki (classical all-male dance-drama) enthusiast and collector Trevor Skingle shares his discovery and the facinating history of a Japanese scroll he bought from an art dealer in the Netherlands that survived the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. His research has enabled him to identify the three Kabuki actors from the 1920’s who’s faces are imprinted onto the silk cloth and the artist who crafted a simple but elegant scroll