March Program at the Kabukiza Theatre||KABUKI WEB

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Kabukiza Theatre

March Program at the kabukiza

March Program at the Kabukiza Theatre

Daily: Mar 04 (Tue) - Mar 27 (Thu), 2025

Matinee:11:00 AM

Evening Show: 4:30 PM

*No performances on the 10th (Mon) and 18th (Tue).

*Reserved seats for the Matinee are sold out on the 19th (Wed). (Single Act Seats <4th level> will still be available.)

*1st Act: A special announcement will be performed before the Matinee starting at around 10:50AM.

*2nd Act: If you arrive after the performance begins, we may not be able to show you to your seat for a while due to staging reasons. We apologize for any inconvenience.

*There are performance days when the Upgraded Single Act Tickets <2nd level> are not available. Please check the schedule in advance.

◇Schedule

Time Schedule

On sale: from Feb 14 (Fri), 2025 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.)

Kabukiza Theatre (at TOKYO) Theatre Information

Together with 'Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees' and 'Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy', 'The Treasury of Loyal Retainers' is one of the Three Great Classics of the kabuki repertoire. It is a masterpiece of plays with Gidayū musical accompaniment. Based on the famous vendetta by the 47 masterless samurai of Akō domain, the story portrays the hardship which the loyal retainers, and their leader, Ōboshi Yuranosuke, suffered, as well as the human relationships surrounding them, which has fascinated people throughout the ages. In 2025, full-length productions of all the Three Great Classics will be performed at the Kabukiza Theatre for the first time in 30 years. Please look forward to 'The Treasury of Loyal Retainers' in March, 'Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy' in September and 'Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees' in October.

star Kabukiza Theatre Stage Photo

Performance Time:
11:00 AM - 11:47 AM
(Intermission: 5 minutes)
11:52 AM - 12:38 PM
(Intermission: 35 minutes)
1:13 PM - 2:45 PM
(Intermission: 15 minutes)
3:03 PM - 3:40 PM
Historical play

Whole play KANADEHON CHŪSHINGURA

['The Treasury of Loyal Retainers']

CAST :
<Acts 1 and 3: The Helmet Appraisal and the Sword Incident>
Program A
Kō no Moronō
Onoe Shōroku
En'ya Hangan
Nakamura Kankurō
Momonoi Wakasa no suke
Onoe Matsuya
Lady Kaoyo
Kataoka Takatarō
Ashikaga Tadayoshi
Nakamura Senjaku
Program B
Kō no Moronō
Nakamura Shikan
En'ya Hangan
Onoe Kikunosuke
Momonoi Wakasa no suke
Onoe Ukon
Lady Kaoyo
Nakamura Tokizō
Ashikaga Tadayoshi
Nakamura Senjaku
<Act 4: En'ya Hangan's Suicide, to surrender the castle>
Program A
Ōboshi Yuranosuke
Kataoka Nizaemon
En'ya Hangan
Nakamura Kankurō
Lady Kaoyo
Kataoka Takatarō
Yakushiji Jirōzaemon
Bandō Hikosaburō
Hara Gōemon
Nakamura Kinnosuke
Ishidō Umanojō
Nakamura Baigyoku
Program B
Ōboshi Yuranosuke
Onoe Shōroku
En'ya Hangan
Onoe Kikunosuke
Lady Kaoyo
Nakamura Tokizō
Yakushiji Jirōzaemon
Bandō Hikosaburō
Hara Gōemon
Nakamura Kinnosuke
Ishidō Umanojō
Bandō Yajūrō
<Joururi: Lover’s Journey>
Program A
Hayano Kanpei
Nakamura Hayato
Sagisaka Bannai
Bandō Minosuke
Okaru, a lady-in-waiting
Nakamura Shichinosuke

Program B
Hayano Kanpei
Kataoka Ainosuke
Sagisaka Bannai
Bandō Kamezō
Okaru, a lady-in-waiting
Nakamura Manju
STORY :

[Acts 1 and 3: The Helmet Appraisal and the Sword Incident]
Daimyō lords from around the country gather for an important ceremony in the presence of Tadayoshi, the younger brother of the shōgun. Under the watchful eye of the official Moronō, Lords En'ya Hangan and Wakasa no suke have been charged with making sure everything goes according to protocol. En'ya Hangan's wife Kaoyo is asked to identify a helmet to be used in the ceremony. Moronō lusts after Kaoyo and tries to woo her, but Wakasa no suke stops him. In return, Moronō uses his position of authority to berate the young lord and Wakasa no suke decides to kill Moronō. But the next morning at the shōgun's mansion, Wakasa no suke's head retainer bribes Moronō to keep his master from causing an incident, and although Wakasa no suke is about to attack Moronō, the aged official's groveling stops him. As a result, though, Moronō is frustrated and angry and vents his feelings on En'ya Hangan, especially after Hangan innocently brings him a letter in which Kaoyo rejects Moronō's advances. Moronō increasingly insults Hangan, who, despite trying to ignore the pressure, finally draws his sword and attacks. Drawing a sword in the shōgun's palace is a crime punishable by death, but Moronō himself escapes with only a slight wound as others within the mansion hurry in to stop Hangan.

[Act 4: En'ya Hangan's Suicide, to surrender the castle]
Emissaries from the shōgun arrive at En'ya Hangan's mansion to announce that he has received the strictest penalty for his actions. He is ordered to commit ritual suicide and his household is to be disbanded. Hangan's hate for Moronō grows when he hears that Moronō has received no punishment. At the time of his suicide, Hangan waits and waits for his head retainer, but he does not arrive. Finally, Hangan plunges in the blade. At that moment, his head retainer Yuranosuke arrives from their home province. With his last breaths, Hangan gives Yuranosuke the knife he used to cut open his belly and tells him to take revenge. Now that the clan has been disbanded, Hangan's men become masterless samurai. Though some urge an immediate attack on Moronō, Yuranosuke bids them not do anything rash. When alone in front of the closed mansion gates, though, he secretly reveals his determination that his lord will not have died in vain.

[Jōruri: Lover's Journey]
After the death of his lord, the retainer Kanpei and his lover, the lady-in-waiting Okaru, flee to Okaru's home, a farmer's house in the country. Kanpei feels guilty about the events since he was having a romantic tryst rather than being at his master's side at the crucial moment. He tries to commit suicide, but Okaru stops him and convinces him that they should go to her home as husband and wife and wait for the right moment for him to apologize officially.

Performance Time:
4:30 PM - 6:13 PM
(Intermission: 30 minutes)
6:43 PM - 8:26 PM
(Intermission: 10 minutes)
8:36 PM - 9:02 PM
Historical play

Whole play KANADEHON CHŪSHINGURA

['The Treasury of Loyal Retainers']

CAST :
<Acts 5 and 6: The Yamazaki Highway and Kanpei's Suicide>
Program A
Hayano Kanpei
Onoe Kikunosuke
Okaru, Kanpei's wife
Nakamura Tokizō
Senzaki Yagorō
Nakamura Mantarō
Ono Sadakurō
Onoe Ukon
Osai, proprietress of the Ichimonjiya
Nakamura Manju
Fuwa Kazuemon
Nakamura Karoku
Program B
Hayano Kanpei
Nakamura Kankurō
Okaru, Kanpei's wife
Nakamura Shichinosuke
Senzaki Yagorō
Bandō Minosuke
Ono Sadakurō
Nakamura Hayato
Osai, proprietress of the Ichimonjiya
Nakamura Kaishun
Fuwa Kazuemon
Nakamura Karoku
<Act 7: The Ichiriki Teahouse>
Program A
Ōboshi Yuranosuke
Kataoka Ainosuke
Teraoka Heiemon
Bandō Minosuke
Okaru, a courtesan
Nakamura Tokizō
Program B
Ōboshi Yuranosuke
Kataoka Nizaemon
Teraoka Heiemon
Onoe Matsuya
Okaru, a courtesan
Nakamura Shichinosuke
<Act 11: The Attack on Moronō's Mansion>
Program A
Ōboshi Yuranosuke
Kataoka Ainosuke
Kobayashi Heihachirō
Onoe Shōroku
Takemori Kitahachi
Bandō Kamezō
Teraoka Heiemon
Bandō Minosuke
Hara Gōemon
Nakamura Kinnosuke
Hattori Itsurō
Onoe Kikugorō

Program B
Ōboshi Yuranosuke
Kataoka Nizaemon
Kobayashi Heihachirō
Nakamura Mantarō
Takemori Kitahachi
Nakamura Hashinosuke
Teraoka Heiemon
Onoe Matsuya
Hara Gōemon
Nakamura Kinnosuke
Hattori Itsurō
Onoe Kikugorō
STORY :

[Acts 5 and 6: The Yamazaki Highway and Kanpei's Suicide]
Kanpei lives a poor life with Okaru at her parents' rural home. He desperately wants to take part in the vendetta against Moronō, but must come up with the money necessary to finance his part in it. Secretly, Okaru and her family decide that the only way to raise the money is to sell her to the pleasure quarters. Having been to seal the deal and collect half the payment, Okaru's father is on his way home along a lonely highway when a thief named Sadakurō kills him and steals the money. In a bizarre twist of events, Kanpei then unknowingly kills the robber while hunting on the same dark night, and he finds the money. But later, the fabric of the wallet seems to prove that he has murdered his father-in-law. Kanpei commits ritual suicide, taking responsibility not only for the death of this father-in-law, but also for being absent when his lord needed him most.

[Act 7: The Ichiriki Teahouse]
Yuranosuke spends his days and nights in the pleasure quarters of Kyoto in an effort to make Moronō believe he is not planning a vendetta. His acting is so good that even men in his own group believe he has given his life up to pleasure. Moronō is not so easily convinced, though, and has sent spies, including a former retainer of En'ya Hangan, to find out Yuranosuke's true intentions. Yuranosuke finds himself tested to the limits by the spy, and is even forced to eat meat on the anniversary of Hangan's death, a strong taboo. Okaru, now a courtesan, is also at the Ichiriki Teahouse. She catches a glimpse of a letter to Yuranosuke detailing plans for the vendetta. After he sees her doing so, he offers to buy out her contract, knowing he must kill her to keep the vendetta a secret. Okaru's brother Heiemon, a servant in the Hangan household, has also come to the teahouse and when he hears that Yuranosuke is to buy out his sister's contract, he realizes his true intentions. Heiemon tries to convince Okaru to let him kill her as such an act may allow him to take part in the vendetta as well. Hearing that Kanpei is now dead, Okaru agrees, but observing their loyal actions, Yuranosuke spares Okaru and allows Heiemon to join the vendetta.

[Act 11: The Attack on Moronō's Mansion]
Disguised as firemen, En'ya Hangan's retainers attack Moronō's mansion on a snowy night. After a fierce fight, they find Moronō hiding in a charcoal shed and take revenge for their lord's wrongful death.

KABUKI by Shochiku