Kabukiza TheatreKabukiza Theatre
August Program at the Kabukiza Theatre
Daily: Aug 03 (Sun) - Aug 26 (Tue), 2025
Part 1: 11:00 AM
Part 2: 2:15 PM
Part 3: 6:15 PM
*No performances on the 12th (Tue) and 20th (Wed).
Time Schedule
On sale: from Jul 14 (Mon), 2025 10:00 AM(JST)
Ticket Price
Special Seat: 17,000
First Class Seat: 16,000
Second Class A: 13,000
Second Class B: 12,000
Second Class C: 8,000
Upper Tier A: 6,000
Upper Tier B: 4,500
Box Seat: 17,000
Unit: Japanese Yen (tax included)
Ticket with "English Captioning Service"
Tickets that include an English captioning device are available on the website. Please select "Ticket with English Captioning Service" (1,500 yen will be added to the ticket price) on the ticket purchase page.
*Special Seat and Box Seat: Not available online. Click here for details.
Kabukiza Theatre (at TOKYO) Theatre Information
- Single Act Tickets
- 【🔗How to buy tickets】Shochiku Multilingual Online Ticket serves as a ticket agency, meaning you can only purchase tickets allocated to it. This service becomes unavailable two days before the performance date, at which point a "Sold Out" message will appear. However, tickets may still be available from the promoter, Shochiku Co., Ltd. for dates that are shown as "sold out". To check availability and other preferred seating areas, please call +81(0)3 6745-0888 or visit the box office.
*English captioning service available to rent. Click here for details.
*Sold program (Detailed English synopsis are found at the end of the Japanese program) available.
Every year, the August Program at the Kabukiza Theatre is divided into 3 parts so you can enjoy a variety of works.
In Part 1, you can see the modern kabuki play which portrays a gang of samurai and a gang of chivalrous commoners who vie for pride and manliness. This is followed by two dances, a gorgeous work featuring saké-loving spirits, and a happy dance featuring a married couple depicting the lives of ordinary people in the Edo period. In Part 2, a dance adapted from the legend of the eight-headed serpent by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and the new kabuki production which has been newly written based on the legend of the phoenix that is well known in Russian folk tales, will be performed. In Part 3, please enjoy the dance which describes the pathos of a wandering performer, and the modern kabuki play which was created by the playwright Noda Hideki who produced brand new kabuki plays in collaboration with the late Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII.
OTOKO DATE BAYARI
['Chivalrous Spirit in Fashion']
CAST :
- Asahina Saburōbē
- Bandō Minosuke
- Miura Kojirō
- Nakamura Hayato
STORY :
In the streets of Edo, tensions run high between the 'hatamoto-yakko' (samurai retainers) and the 'machi-yakko' (town servants), constantly competing for pride and dominance. One day, Miura Kojirō, a 'hatamoto-yakko', is walking along the banks of Shinobazu Pond in Ueno when he encounters an elderly man attempting to drown himself. Miura tries to save him but, unable to swim, he can only stand there helplessly. Just then, a boatman rowing a small boat pulls the old man out of the water. The old man, Rokubē, explains that after the death of his daughter, his son-in-law Matabē and Matabē's new wife began to despise him, driving him to attempt suicide. The boatman encourages Rokubē to open a teahouse to rival Matabē's, promising to prepare thirty ryō by the next day to make it possible. Miura, who has witnessed the scene, offers to act as a witness and agrees to meet again the following morning. The next morning, the man who enters Matabē's teahouse is none other than the boatman who saved Rokubē—Asahina Saburobē, a 'machi-yakko' from the Banzuiin Chōbē gang. Miura, the 'hatamoto', and Asahina, the 'machi-yakko', exchange their names, and soon, the two begin to clash in a fierce battle of pride… Enjoy the fiery sparks that fly in this showdown of male pride.
SHŌJŌ / DANGO URI
['Mythical Saké Loving Spirit' / 'The Dumpling Peddlers']
CAST :
- Shōjō
- Matsumoto Kōshirō
- Shōjō
- Nakamura Kankurō
- A saké seller
- Ichikawa Komazō
- Kinezō
- Matsumoto Kōshirō
- Ofuku
- Nakamura Kankurō
SHŌJŌ
DANGO URI
STORY :
"SHŌJŌ"
Originating from China, the shōjō is a mythical saké-loving spirit that lives in rivers. In this dance, a young, honest woman has a revelation in a dream in which she is told to open a saké shop. Soon after she does so, she meets a mysterious customer who visits the shop daily, drinking enormous amounts of saké with great satisfaction. As it turns out, the customer is actually a shōjō in disguise. The dance shows a pair of shōjō drinking and dancing joyfully.
"DANGO URI"
This dance with Gidayū music portrays a couple making and selling rice dumplings on the streets. They demonstrate how they make the rice dumplings in a lively way. The making of rice dumplings is often associated with the prosperity of one's descendants, so it is considered to bring good fortune.
NIHON FURISODE HAJIME
['Susano'o vanquishes the eight-headed serpent']
CAST :
- Princess Iwanaga, in reality an eight-headed serpent
- Nakamura Shichinosuke
- Princess Inada
- Nakamura Yonekichi
- The god Susano'o
- Ichikawa Somegorō
STORY :
This dance is a rare example of a story from ancient Japanese mythology that was turned into a puppet play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, and later adapted for the kabuki theatre.
As part of a terrible annual ritual, Princess Inada has been chosen to be sacrificed to a fierce serpent that lives in the mountains of Izumo. The serpent arrives in the guise of a beautiful princess, but before it can attack, it is distracted by eight jars that are placed nearby, each filled with saké. Exceptionally fond of saké, the serpent cannot resist the temptation to drink it all. In fact, however, the jars were a trap planted by the god Susano'o. Finally, he appears to save the princess and confront the beast in its true form as an eight-headed serpent.
HI NO TORI
['Phoenix']
CAST :
- Phoenix
- Bandō Tamasaburō
- Yamahiko
- Ichikawa Somegorō
- Umihiko
- Ichikawa Danko
- Iwagane
- Bandō Shingo
- A great king
- Matsumoto Kōshirō
STORY :
In the land ruled by the Great King, endless bloodshed has expanded his territory through repeated invasions of many nations. Now aged and suffering from illness, the Great King seeks to possess the Phoenix, a bird of eternal power, in hopes of gaining everlasting life. The two princes, Yamahiko and Umihiko, are ordered to capture the Phoenix and embark on a journey to a distant land where the Phoenix has been said to dwell since ancient times. In a garden where mysterious, shining golden apple trees grow thick, the two brothers encounter a figure who introduces himself as Iwagane… Hi no Tori (The Phoenix), a story that has inspired ballet and manga, now comes to life as a brand-new Kabuki production. Please look forward to a grand and mystical world unfolding before your eyes.
ECHIGO JISHI
['The Lion from Echigo']
CAST :
- Kakubē, a lion dancer
- Nakamura Hashinosuke
- Kakubē, a lion dancer
- Nakamura Fukunosuke
- Kakubē, a lion dancer
- Nakamura Toranosuke
- Kakubē, a lion dancer
- Nakamura Utanosuke
STORY :
This is a dance portraying a street performance by itinerant entertainers from Echigo Province (present day Niigata prefecture) who would wear 'shishi' lion masks, wear drums on their stomachs and do tumbling acts. First, the entertainers dance with a lion mask on, then perform to a seafaring melody and at last demonstrate how one bleaches cloth by swinging two pieces of cloth above their heads to look like waves.
TOGITATSU NO UTARE: NODA BAN
['The Revenge on Togitatsu: Noda Version']
CAST :
- Moriyama Tatsuji
- Nakamura Kankurō
- Hirai Kuichirō
- Ichikawa Somegorō
- Hirai Saijirō
- Nakamura Kantarō
- Haginoe, wife of the lord of Awazu domain / Oyoshi, Omine's elder sister
Nakamura Shichinosuke- Hachimi Dennai
- Ichikawa Chūsha
- Machida Sadasuke, an official
- Bandō Minosuke
- Omine, Oyoshi's younger sister
- Bandō Shingo
- Yuzaki Kōichirō
- Nakamura Hashinosuke
- Tsutaya Chōzaburō
- Nakamura Chōzaburō
- Mechanical doll / Bangorō, a guard
- Kataoka Kamezō
- Hirai Ichirōemon, the chief retainer
- Matsumoto Kōshirō
- Ryōkan, a priest
- Nakamura Senjaku
STORY :
Tatsuji is a sword-sharpener from the commoner class who was recently accepted to samurai rank. His "successful" rise in the hierarchy was merely the result of his clever verbal tactics and materialistic values. He happens to become caught in a situation in which he is hunted by two brothers avenging their father's death. The avengers are as reluctant as Tatsuji, who is entirely exhausted by continually escaping from them. Isn't the revenge simply a murder? What is all this killing for? Visual quotations from global culture, such as baseball and West Side Story, sparklingly decorate the piece on the surface, yet dark questions still lie just underneath.