FUTATSU CHŌCHŌ KURUWA NIKKI
Sumō Ba

['The Sumō Match' from 'Two Butterflies in the Pleasure Quarters']

CAST :

Nuregami Chōgorō

Nakamura Ganjirō

Hanaregoma Chōkichi

Nakamura Hayato

Yamazakiya Yogorō

Ichikawa Somegorō

Azuma of the Fujiya Teahouse

Nakamura Kazutarō

STORY :

This is a sewamono play portraying in a realistic way the lives of ordinary people in the Edo period (1603-1868). The words in the title 'Futatsu Chōchō' mean 'two butterflies', and this reflects the fact that the names of the two sumō wrestlers who play important roles in the play both begin with "chō": Chōkichi and Chōgorō. Nuregami Chōgorō throws a match in the hopes that the younger wrestler Hanaregoma Chōkichi will persuade his patron Gōzaemon to give up the beautiful courtesan, Azuma. This is because Yogorō, Chōgorō's patron, and Azuma love each other, and Yogorō wants to redeem her from her contract. However, Chōkichi loses his temper at the fact that Chōgorō purposely lost the fight and the two begin quarreling, performing a series of magnificent mie poses as they compete in a test of pride.

UIRŌ URI

['The Medicine Peddler']

CAST :

Uirō peddler, in reality, Soga no Gorō

Ichikawa Shinnosuke VIII, making his stage debut

Ōiso no Tora

Nakamura Senjaku

Kewaizaka no Shōshō

Kataoka Takatarō

Kobayashi no Asahina

Ichikawa Omezō

Maizuru, Asahina’s younger sister

Nakamura Jakuemon

Kudō Suketsune

Nakamura Baigyoku

STORY :

Kudō Suketsune, a senior vassal of Minamoto no Yoritomo, has been appointed master of the hunt which will take place at the foot of Mt. Fuji. Having finished the preparations for the hunt, Suketsune relaxes at the Ōiso pleasure quarters. An Uirō medicine peddler, a specialty of Odawara, is called in as entertainment at the drinking party. Uirō is a Chinese medicine transmitted to the Uirō family, but this Uirō peddler is, in reality, Soga no Gorō Tokimune who seeks Suketsune's life as his father's murderer... Ichikawa Shinnosuke will try his hand at the famous tongue-twisting dialogue as the Uirō peddler, relating the medicine's origins and explaining its efficacy in a fluent speech.

OTOKODATE HANA NO YOSHIWARA

['Chivalrous Commoner at the Pleasure Quarters']

CAST :

Gorozō

Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII, changing his name from Ichikawa Ebizō XI

A child apprentice to a courtesan

Ichikawa Botan

STORY :

Gosho no Gorozō, the best chivalrous commoner in Edo, receives a letter from his courtesan lover, brought by a child apprentice who works for her. He is about to go to see her, when young men appear who bear a grudge against him. He easily fights them off when they attack him one after the other, and then sets off to meet her. Enjoy this gorgeous dance which portrays a chick dandy and chivalrous commoners, filled with the stylish beauty of kabuki. It will be performed by Danjūrō and his daughter Botan to commemorate his name succession.

Kotohoide Mimasu Kagekiyo
KAGEKIYO

['Kagekiyo's Rebellion']

CAST :

Akushichibyōe Kagekiyo

Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII, changing his name from Ichikawa Ebizō XI

Akoya

Nakamura Jakuemon

Iwanaga Saemon

Ichikawa Udanji

Osaku, the proprietress of Hanabishiya brothel

Ichimura Manjirō

Chichibu no Shōji Shigetada

Nakamura Baigyoku

STORY :

Imprisoned in the capital, Kagekiyo of the defeated Heike clan refuses to speak. Though his lover Akoya, a courtesan, and Hitomaru, the boy born to them, both come to meet him, he remains silent. Only after Chichibu no Shōji Shigetada of the rival Genji clan asks the others to leave does Kagekiyo say to Shigetada in private that, since he is invulnerable, he intends to show people the incompetence of the Genji clan by remaining immune from their attack. Kagekiyo reveals to Shigetada that his dream is to realize a peaceful world. Hearing that, Shigetada tells Kagekiyo that his master Yoritomo shares the same goal, and plans to rebuild the Great Buddha hall of the Tōdaiji temple which was destroyed by the Heike clan. Kagekiyo abandons his will to avenge himself on the Genji clan. Due to Yoritomo's kindness, Shigetada unties the chain which surrounds the prison and leaves. Left alone, Kagekiyo is now free from his obsession and breaks out of the prison.

KANADEHON CHŪSHINGURA
Gion Ichiriki Jaya

['The Ichiriki Teahouse' from 'The Treasury of Loyal Retainers']

CAST :

Ōboshi Yuranosuke

Kataoka Nizaemon

Okaru, a courtesan

Kataoka Takatarō

Akagaki Genzō

Kataoka Shinnosuke

Teraoka Heiemon

Nakamura Shikan

STORY :

'Chūshingura' is one of the most popular plays in the repertoire. It depicts a true event when forty-seven masterless samurai avenged the death of their lord by killing his enemy. Act VII is one of the most famous of the play and focuses on the leader of the vendetta, Yuranosuke. Yuranosuke must hide his intention to avenge his lord's death by pretending to be interested only in pleasure as he encounters key figures on his own side and on the side of the enemy. Yuranosuke spends his days and nights in the pleasure quarters of Kyoto. However, his enemy Moronō is not so easily convinced and has sent spies to find out Yuranosuke's true intentions. Okaru, the wife of one of the retainers is now a courtesan at the Ichiriki Teahouse, unaware that her husband is dead. Without knowing that a spy lies hidden under the veranda, Yuranosuke reads a secret letter indicating his true intentions. It is read from below by the spy, but Yuranosuke realises this thanks to Okaru. Okaru's brother Heiemon, a servant in the En'ya household, also comes to the teahouse and there he meets with his sister again. Finally, Heiemon is permitted to be an attendant during the revenge, and the act ends with Yuranosuke preparing to lead the vendetta.

Shūmei Hirō KŌJŌ

['Stage Announcement Commemorating the Name Succession']

CAST :

Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII, changing his name from Ichikawa Ebizō XI
Ichikawa Shinnosuke VIII, making his stage debut
Kataoka Nizaemon

Nakamura Baigyoku
And other top-ranking actors are present

STORY :

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

SUKEROKU YUKARI NO EDO ZAKURA

['Sukeroku, the Flower of Edo']

CAST :

Hanakawado no Sukeroku

Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII, changing his name from Ichikawa Ebizō XI

Agemaki, a great courtesan of the Miuraya

Nakamura Kazutarō (1st - 12th)

Nakamura Kotarō (14th - 24th)

Shiratama, a courtesan of the Miuraya

Nakamura Kotarō (1st - 12th)

Nakamura Kazutarō (14th - 24th)

Hige no Ikyū

Ichikawa Omezō

Asagao Senpei

Nakamura Kashō

Fukuyama Katsugi

Nakamura Hayato

Soga no Mankō

Ichikawa Monnosuke

Otatsu, the brothel madam

Ichimura Manjirō

Kanpera Monbē

Nakamura Shikan

Shinbē, Sukeroku’s elder brother

Nakamura Senjaku

Rigyō, a man-about-town

Nakamura Ganjirō

Prologist

Ichikawa Somegorō

Stage Assistant

Ichikawa Udanji

STORY :

This is a play filled with the leisurely atmosphere of old-style kabuki in its mixture of comedy and romance. ''Sukeroku'' is a great showpiece for the top stars in kabuki. The dandy Sukeroku is the most famous patron of the Yoshiwara Pleasure Quarters, but his reputation as the lover of the highest-ranking courtesan Agemaki is matched by his argumentative nature and his tendency to pick fights. In fact, Sukeroku is the samurai Soga no Gorō in disguise and he uses the fights as an excuse to search for a lost heirloom sword. His quest takes place amidst of the colorful spectacle that is the Yoshiwara, where the processions of beautiful courtesans compete with the splendor of cherry blossoms in full bloom.