Kabukiza TheatreKabukiza Theatre
January Program at the Kabukiza Theatre
Daily: Jan 02 (Thu) - Jan 26 (Sun), 2025
Matinee:11:00 AM
Evening Show: 4:30 PM
*No performances on the 8th (Wed) and 16th (Thu).
*The 25th (Sat) Matinee/Evening Show will be 'Kabukiza Kimono Day', a performance where customers are recommended to wear kimono.
From January 10 (Fri),2025 the Kabukiza Theatre will begin selling 'Upgraded Single Act Tickets' on the 2nd level on its Multilingual Website!! (Dec 3)
On sale: from Dec 14 (Sat), 2024 10:00 AM(JST)
Ticket Price
First Class Seat: 18,000
Second Class Seat: 14,000
Upper Tier A: 6,000
Upper Tier B: 4,000
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.
*Box Seat: 20,000 (Not available online. Click here for details.)
*Children over the age of 4 must purchase tickets to enter.
*Tea will not be offered at the Box Seats.
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.
January features a luxurious lineup celebrating Shochiku's 130th anniversary, with a range of classical masterpieces, popular works, and new productions.
The Matinee begins with 'The Auspicious Confrontation of the Soga Brothers,' a festive play befitting the New Year, followed by a revised version of 'The Court Astrologer,' which was performed as a New Kabuki Production in September 2013 at the Kabukiza Theatre and was well received, and ends with 'Breaking the Seal,' a masterpiece of the Kamigata area (Kyoto/Osaka) portraying the tragic love of a man and woman.
The Evening Show starts with the masterpiece 'Kumagai’s Battle Camp,' a profound historical drama boldly adapted from 'The Tale of the Heike'. Next is the enchanting dance 'The Two Wankyūs,' which has been performed by many celebrated duos in the past. This month, it will be performed by two young and vibrant actors. Finally, 'Millionaire Samurai Constable,' a very popular TV drama series which has been broadcast by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) for 3 seasons, is adapted for the first time as kabuki.
Kabukiza Theatre Stage Photo
KOTOBUKI SOGA NO TAIMEN
['The Auspicious Confrontation of the Soga Brothers']
CAST :
- Soga no Gorō Tokimune
- Bandō Minosuke
- Soga no Jūrō Sukenari
- Nakamura Yonekichi
- Ōiso no Tora
- Bandō Shingo
- Kobayashi no Asahina
- Onoe Ukon
- Oniō Shinzaemon
- Ichikawa Chūsha
- Kudō Saemon Suketsune
- Nakamura Shikan
STORY :
This scene is one act of a history play based on the legend of the Soga brothers' vendetta. In the Edo period, plays about the vendetta carried out by the Soga brothers, Gorō and Jūrō, were performed at times of celebration. 'Soga no Taimen', in which the brothers meet their nemesis, has its roots in the earliest of these plays. This play has ceremonial aspects and features each of the important kabuki character types, including the bombastic 'aragoto' style of Gorō and the soft 'wagoto' style of Jūrō.
Intermission: 35 minutes
(Intermission: 15 minutes)
1:01 PM - 1:52 PM
ONMYŌJI
Ōmukade Taiji, Kanawa
['Slaying a Giant Centipede' and 'Iron Tripod' from 'The Court Astrologer']
CAST :
- Fujiwara no Hidesato
- Onoe Shōroku
- The spirit of a giant centipede
- Bandō Kamezō
- Princess Naganagi
- Nakamura Kaishun
- Abe no Seimei
- Matsumoto Kōshirō
- Minamoto no Hiromasa
- Nakamura Kankurō
- Princess Tokuko
- Nakamura Kazutarō
- Fujiwara no Kaneie
- Ichikawa Monnosuke
- Mitsumushi
- Ichikawa Komazō
- Ashiya Dōman
- Matsumoto Hakuō
<Ōmukade Taiji>
<Kanawa>
STORY :
Ōmukade Taiji ['Slaying a Giant Centipede']
Fujiwara no Hidesato, a warrior famed for his valor, sets out from the capital to subjugate Taira no Masakado who has risen in the east in rebellion against the emperor. He received an arrow as a parting gift from the Court Astrologer Abe no Seimei. Passing by Mt. Mikami in Ōmi Province on Seimei's advice, he encounters a giant centipede. Skilled at archery, he aims at it with the arrow and …
Kanawa ['Iron Tripod']
Princess Tokuko, who is fond of the tone of Hiromasa's flute, was betrayed by the man she loves and was made a demoness through the sorcery of Ashiya Dōman. Abe no Seimei tries to break the spell, and the time soon comes when he must confront Ashiya Dōman …
Intermission: 25 minutes
Koi Bikyaku Yamato Ōrai
FŪIN KIRI
['Breaking the Seal' from 'The Love Messenger to Yamato']
CAST :
- Kameya Chūbē
- Nakamura Ganjirō (2nd～14th)
- Nakamura Senjaku (15th～26th)
- Tanbaya Hachiemon
- Nakamura Senjaku (2nd～14th)
- Nakamura Ganjirō (15th～26th)
- Umegawa, a courtesan
- Kataoka Takatarō
- Tsuchiya Jiemon
- Nakamura Tōzō
- Oen, proprietress of the Izutsuya
- Nakamura Kaishun
STORY :
The main character Chūbē is performed in the 'wagoto' acting style. 'Wagoto' is representative of plays from the Kamigata area (Kyoto/Osaka). Often partnering courtesans, such characters are handsome male leads with gentle natures who also exhibit a slightly comical side. In the pleasure quarters, the most important possessions were money and reputation. In danger of losing his lover, the courtesan Umegawa, the money courier Chūbē breaks the seal on a package of money entrusted to him after being taunted by a rival, even though the use of such money is punishable by death.
Ichinotani Futaba Gunki
KUMAGAI JIN'YA
['Kumagai's Battle Camp' from 'The Chronicles of the Battle of Ichinotani']
CAST :
- Kumagai Jirō Naozane
- Onoe Shōroku
- Sagami, Naozane's wife
- Nakamura Manju
- Minamoto no Yoshitsune
- Nakamura Shikan
- Tsutsumi no Gunji
- Bandō Kamezō
- Lady Fuji
- Nakamura Jakuemon
- Byakugō no Midaroku
- Nakamura Karoku
STORY :
This is a play based on episodes from the Battle of Ichinotani, one of the climactic struggles between the Heike and Genji clans in the 12th century. At this battle, the Genji warrior Naozane attacks Taira no Atsumori. When Naozane returns to his battle camp, he finds his wife, Sagami, and Atsumori's mother, Lady Fuji. He tells them how he killed Atsumori and he shows the severed head of Atsumori to his lord Minamoto no Yoshitsune. However, in reality, the head is that of Naozane's own son. Yoshitsune suggested to Naozane indirectly that he sacrifice his son as a substitute for Atsumori, the son of the former Emperor. After doing so, and feeling the transience of our existence, Naozane rejects the life of a warrior to become a Buddhist priest.
Intermission: 35 minutes
NININ WANKYŪ
['The Two Wankyūs']
CAST :
- Wan'ya Kyūbē
- Onoe Ukon
- Matsuyama, a courtesan
- Nakamura Kazutarō
STORY :
This is a dance portraying the love of Wan'ya Kyūbē, a rich merchant in Osaka, for a courtesan named Matsuyama. It is based on a real incident that occurred in the Edo period.
Kyūbē is deeply in love with Matsuyama and has been meeting her so often that his family became worried, finally confining him in a room in his shop. He loses his mind, escapes from his shop and goes looking for Matsuyama. He wanders off wearing a Japanese beret and dozes at the root of a pine tree. Then, Matsuyama appears to him in his dream. They dance merrily together, but before long she disappears. Left alone, he realizes that she was only an illusion. He falls to the ground and begins to weep.
Intermission: 25 minutes
DAIFUGŌ DŌSHIN
['Millionaire Samurai Constable']
CAST :
- Yamaki Unokichi / Yukichiyo
- Nakamura Hayato
- Misuzu
- Nakamura Kazutarō
- Sei no Shōshō
- Bandō Minosuke
- Tokugawa Iemasa
- Bandō Shingo
- Princess Makoto
- Nakamura Yonekichi
- Ginpachi
- Onoe Ukon
- Honda Izumo no kami
- Ichikawa Chūsha
- Araumi no San'emon
- Matsumoto Kōshirō
- Mikuniya Tokuemon
- Nakamura Ganjirō
STORY :
Unokichi, the grandson of Mikuniya Tokuemon, one of the wealthiest merchants in Edo, leads a dissipated life. Unable to overlook this, Tokuemon buys him a position as a constable with his immense wealth, but Unokichi is physically weak and so unreliable that he faints when he sees edged tools. Meanwhile, the shogun Iemasa lies ill in bed and summons his younger brother Yukichiyo to Edo. At the New Year, as Unokichi spends time at pleasure at the Hachiman Shrine accompanied by the jester Ginpachi, he passes by a man who is the spitting image of himself and ...
The historical novel 'Millionaire Samurai Constable' by Ban Daisuke is a very popular series, selling over a million copies, and its plot unfolds in an unexpected way. A millionaire becomes a constable and solves difficult cases. The volume 'Yamaki Unokichi acts as a Double,' which has been adapted for this month's production, has a thrilling story concerning the succession dispute of the shogun, in which several attractive characters appear.