GENROKU HANAMI ODORI

['Flower Viewing Dance of the Genroku Period']

CAST :

Okuni

Onoe Ukon

Sanza

Nakamura Hayato

STORY :

It is the Genroku period (1688-1704) and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. People dressed up in showy outfits gather to view the cherry trees and begin to dance. After a song about the custom of flower viewing in Kyoto, some drunken people begin another lively dance.

SUGAWARA DENJU TENARAI KAGAMI
Kurumabiki, Terakoya

['Pulling the Carriage Apart' and 'The Village School' from 'Sugawara's Secrets of Calligraphy']

CAST :

〈Kurumabiki〉

Umeōmaru

Onoe Kikunosuke, changing his name from Onoe Ushinosuke

Matsuōmaru

Nakamura Takanosuke

Sakuramaru

Kamimura Kichitarō

Fujiwara no Shihei

Nakamura Matagorō

〈Terakoya〉

Matsuōmaru

Onoe Kikugorō VIII, changing his name from Onoe Kikunosuke

Takebe Genzō

Kataoka Ainosuke

Chiyo

Nakamura Tokizō

Shundō Genba

Nakamura Mantarō

Tonami

Nakamura Jakuemon

Sono'o no mae

Nakamura Kaishun

STORY :

Kurumabiki ['Pulling the Carriage Apart']
Umeōmaru and his triplet brother, Sakuramaru, try to get revenge on Fujiwara no Shihei who falsely accused Umeōmaru's lord, Kan Shōjō of treason. However, they are confronted by their other brother, Matsuōmaru, who is one of Shihei's retainers. The energetic performance of Umeōmaru is a showcase for the bombastic 'aragoto' style of acting.

Terakoya ['The Village School']
Takebe Genzō was Kan Shōjō's most gifted disciple. Kan Shōjō has been exiled and his family are in grave danger. Genzō runs a small school in the country and shelters Kan Shōjō's son and heir, Kan Shūsai, whom they are trying to pass off as their own son. However, word has gotten out that Kan Shūsai is at their school and Genzō has been ordered to behead him. Moreover, the retainer Matsuōmaru who knows Kan Shūsai's face is to come to inspect the head. Genzō's only hope is to kill one of the other students as a substitute. On that day, a new student named Kotarō who has a refined bearing arrives. Genzō takes the terrible decision to kill him in place of his lord's son.

OMATSURI

['The Festival']

CAST :

Chief of a fire brigade

Kataoka Nizaemon

A geisha

Kataoka Takatarō

STORY :

The gallant commoners of Edo's neighborhoods loved nothing better than a festival, and this performance is a dance based on one of the biggest festivals in Edo (the old name for Tokyo). In this dance, a geisha appears on stage with a group of young men in a display of their 'Edo-style' spirit. The geisha, who has become a little tipsy, performs a beautiful and enticing dance, and caught up in her performance, the young festival goers put on a brilliant display as they all dance together.

SHIBARAKU

['Wait a Minute']

CAST :

Kamakura Gongorō

Ichikawa Danjūrō

Teruha, Nasu no Kurō's sister

Nakamura Jakuemon

Kashima Nyūdō Shinsai

Nakamura Ganjirō

Narita Gorō

Ichikawa Udanji

A stage assistant who serves tea

Nakamura Chūsha

Kiyohara no Takehira

Nakamura Shikan

Katsura no mae

Nakamura Kaishun

Kamo Jirō

Nakamura Baigyoku

STORY :

More ceremony than play, 'Shibaraku' is one of the oldest pieces in kabuki. Just as the evil villain, Takehira, is about to execute a group of loyal retainers, a voice calls out for him to wait and the hero Kamakura Gongorō appears to save the day. He enters on the 'hanamichi' runway and introduces himself in a tongue-twisting speech full of word play. The villain tries to get rid of him, but no one can match him. Gongorō reveals Takehira's wrongdoing, and beheads the villain's minions. Finally, he departs along the 'hanamichi' runway in an impressive manner that demonstrates his great strength. This play features the bombastic 'aragoto' style of acting and preserves the leisurely, comic style of the earliest period of kabuki.

Shūmei Hirō KŌJŌ

['Stage Announcement Commemorating the Name Succession']

CAST :

Onoe Kikugorō VIII, changing his name from Onoe Kikunosuke;
Onoe Kikunosuke, changing his name from Onoe Ushinosuke.

Plus other top-ranking actors who are present

STORY :

The actors will appear as themselves to make a stage announcement to commemorate the name succession.

RENJISHI

['Parent and Child Lion Dance']

CAST :

The actor Ukon, later, the spirit of the parent lion

Onoe Kikugorō VIII, changing his name from Onoe Kikunosuke

The actor Sakon, later, the spirit of the lion cub

Onoe Kikunosuke, changing his name from Onoe Ushinosuke

Rennen, a priest of the Nichiren Sect

Nakamura Shidō

Hennen, a priest of the Pure Land Sect

Kataoka Ainosuke

STORY :

This is a dance adapted from a tale featuring the legendary 'shishi', a mythical lion-like beast. It is based on the belief that a 'shishi' will push its cubs over a steep cliff as a test of their strength, only nurturing those cubs strong enough to climb up by themselves. Two priests dance the tale of the legendary 'shishi' that live at the foot of a holy Buddhist mountain. The dance portrays a parent 'shishi' forcing its cub to undergo harsh training in order to grow up strong. In the finale, the 'shishi' themselves appear and perform their dance with the wild shaking of their long manes.

SHIBAHAMA NO KAWAZAIFU

['The Leather Purse of Shibahama']

CAST :

Masagorō, a fishmonger

Onoe Shōroku

Kantarō, a carpenter

Bandō Kamezō

Umekichi, a plasterer

Bandō Hikosaburō

Chōbē, the landlord

Kawarasaki Gonjūrō

Otatsu, Masagorō's wife

Nakamura Manju

STORY :

This is a play adapted from a Rakugo story. A man who is a good-for-nothing drunkard picks up a leather purse full of coins while out fishing. He happily takes it home and celebrates by holding a big drinking party. The next morning, he asks for his purse, but his wife insists that it was all a dream. Feeling ashamed of himself, he changes his attitude and starts working hard. Three years later when the couple is living comfortably, the wife admits that she must apologize for something...