Minamiza Theatre
December Program at the Minamiza Theatre
Daily: Dec 01 (Fri) - Dec 24 (Sun), 2023
Matinee:10:30 AM
Evening Show: 3:45 PM
*No performances on the 7th (Thu), 13th (Wed) and 18th (Mon).
*Reserved seats for Matinee on 23rd (Sat) and for Evening Show on 10th (Sun) are sold out.
On sale: from Nov 09 (Thu), 2023 10:00 AM(JST)
Special Seat: 27,000 /First Class Seat: 25,000 /Second Class Seat A: 12,000 / Second Class Seat B: 10,000 / Third Class Seat: 8,000 / Fourth Class Seat: 6,000
Unit: Japanese Yen (tax included)
*Children over the age of 4 must purchase tickets to enter.
Minamiza Theatre (at KYOTO) Theatre Information
- *No English supporting guide available.
- *This performance is not available via the Shochiku Multilingual Online Ticket Service. Please purchase tickets via the Shochiku Ticket Phone Service (English available).
*Sold program available (Detailed English synopses are found at the end of the Japanese program).
The Kaomise Production is an annual event in winter in Kyoto. This year, it will be a happy event commemorating the name succession of Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII. Befitting the name succession, works associated with the Naritaya acting house will be performed and star actors will gather from the east and west to celebrate the name succession.
In the Matinee, you will see a domestic play portraying the humanity of sumō wrestlers, a pleasant history play starring Danjūrō’s son Shinnosuke VIII, a gorgeous dance in which Danjūrō’s daughter Botan will also appear, as well as a dynamic history play from the 'Eighteen Favourite Kabuki Plays' performed by Danjūrō.
In the Evening Show, there will be a famous scene from 'The Treasury of Loyal Retainers', one of the three great classics of the kabuki repertoire, a Stage Announcement in which all the actors will appear, as well as a typical domestic play of the Naritaya acting house from the 'Eighteen Favourite Kabuki Plays'.
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.
Intermission: 20 minutes
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.
Intermission: 30 minutes
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.
Intermission: 20 minutes
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.
Intermission: 20 minutes
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.
Intermission: 30 minutes
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.