SHŌFUDATSUKI KONGEN KUSAZURI

['The Tug-of-War Over the Armor']

CAST :

Soga no Gorō Tokimune

Onoe Matsuya

Kobayashi no Asahina

Onoe Ukon

STORY :

A short dance in the old-fashioned style of kabuki, leisurely in pace and full of humour, featuring the larger-than-life heroism of the ‘aragoto’ style of acting. The mighty warrior Asahina attempts to restrain the hot-headed Soga no Gorō from rushing into battle by pulling on the suit of armour he is carrying.

EHON TAIKŌKI
Amagasaki Kankyo no Ba

['The Retreat in Amagasaki' from 'The Picture Book of Taikō']

CAST :

Takechi Mitsuhide

Kataoka Ainosuke

Misao, Mitsuhide’s wife

Kataoka Takatarō

Hatsugiku

Nakamura Kazutarō

Takechi Jūjirō

Nakamura Hayato

Satō Masakiyo

Nakamura Takanosuke

Satsuki, Mitsuhide’s mother

Kamimura Kichiya

Mashiba Hisayoshi

Nakamura Senjaku

STORY :

This is a 'jidaimono' history play portraying General Akechi Mitsuhide's life after his rebellion. Mitsuhide has killed his lord Oda Harunaga and taken over the country, but after a few days, he is in danger of losing all that he has gained to his rival general Mashiba Hisayoshi. Mitsuhide intends to attack Hisayoshi with a bamboo spear, but finds that he has fatally wounded his own mother. His mother and wife reprimand him for the disloyal act of killing his lord, but he refuses to repent. His will of steel is only broken when his son arrives to report on the battle and dies from his injuries.

OTOWA-GA-TAKE DAMMARI

['The Dammari at Mt.Otowa']

CAST :

Otowa Yashagorō

Onoe TatsunosukeⅢ, changing his name from Onoe SakonⅢ

Hatakeyama Shigetada

Matsumoto Kōshirō

Hotoke Gozen, a shirabyōshi dancer

Kataoka Takatarō

Kamata no Kurando

Kataoka Ainosuke

Ōhhime, Ōuchi’s daughte

Nakamura Kazutarō

Yūki Saemon

Nakamura Toranosuke

Kumogiri Kesatarō

Ichikawa Somegorō

Hanzawa Rokurō

Nakamura Kikaku

Asano Danjō

Kataoka Shinnosuke

Ōe no Saburō

Nakamura Kinnosuke

Sekishō no mae

Nakamura Senjaku

Datehei, a footman

Nakamura Ganjirō

STORY :

A ‘danmari’ is a wordless, stylised pantomime in which characters grope about in the darkness, usually struggling to gain possession of an important object. Traditionally performed as a scene within a longer play, it introduces the principal characters while the object passes from one person to another, creating complications that set the plot in motion. A ‘danmari’ may also be performed as an independent piece, with its own central characters and a simple plot, supported by a cast of familiar kabuki character types. ‘Otowa-ga-take Danmari’ was first performed in 1935 in memory of Onoe Kikugorō V.

Kumo ni Magou Ueno no Hatsuhana
KŌCHIYAMA

['The Tea-ceremony Priest Kōchiyama' from 'Ueno's First Cherry Blossoms Mistaken for Clouds']

CAST :

Kōchiyama Sōshun

Kataoka Nizaemon (Program A)

Matsumoto Kōshirō (Program B)

Miyazaki Kazuma

Ichikawa Somegorō

Namiji, a lady-in-waiting

Onoe Tatsunosuke Ⅲ, changing his name from Onoe Sakon Ⅲ

Kitamura Daizen

Nakamura Kikaku

Omaki, a widow

Kamimura Kichiya

Izumiya Seibē

Nakamura Matagorō

Takagi Kozaemon

Nakamura Karoku

Matsue, Lord of Izumo

Nakamura Baigyoku

※Problem A（12/1・3・4・5・8・10・13・14・15・18・19・20・23・24）
※Problem B（12/2・6・7・11・12・16・21・22）

STORY :

The 'tea-ceremony priest' Kōchiyama is a skilled extortionist and he is now working on another scheme to obtain money. He disguises himself as a high-ranking priest in order to gain the freedom of a girl who refuses to become the mistress of a powerful samurai lord and who is captured by him. During his heated discussions, in which the actor speaks the famous poetic cadences of the late 19th century playwright Kawatake Mokuami, Kōchiyama not only succeeds in his mission to rescue the girl but manages to extort a fair amount for himself.

SHINPAN UTAZAIMON
Nozakimura

['Nozaki Village' from 'A New Ballad to the Gods']

CAST :

Omitsu, Kyūsaku's daughter

Onoe Tatsunosuke Ⅲ, changing his name from Onoe Sakon Ⅲ

Hisamatsu, an apprentice of the Aburaya

Onoe Matsuya

Osome, daughter of the Aburaya pawnshop

Onoe Ukon

Otsune, Osome’s mother

Nakamura Jakuemon

Kyūsaku, a farmer

Nakamura Baigyoku

STORY :

Osome, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, falls in love with Hisamatsu, a shop apprentice. Hisamatsu has been sent away to his home in the country and Omitsu, a simple country girl to whom he is betrothed, has happily awaited the day when she can be united with Hisamatsu as husband and wife. But on the day they marry, Osome comes to see Hisamatsu, and seeing the strength of the love between the two, Omitsu unites them by sacrificing her own happiness and becoming a nun.

MANZAI
ONNA DATE
DANGO URI

['Manzai’]
['The Female Dandy']
['The Dumpling Peddlers']

CAST :

<Manzai>

Manzai

Kataoka Ainosuke

Saizō

Nakamura Hayato

Saizō

Nakamura Toranosuke

<Onna Date>

Kizaki no Oyasu

Kataoka Takatarō

Yodogawa no Senzō, a chivalrous man

Ōtani Hirotarō

Nakanoshima Naruhei, a chivalrous man

Nakamura Takanosuke

<Dango Uri>

Ofuku

Nakamura Ganjirō

Kinezō

Nakamura Senjaku

STORY :

Manzai ['Manzai']
Manzai entertainers perform a lively dance in the streets as they pray for business prosperity.

Onna Date ['The Female Dandy’]
A strong and spirited woman comes to the city pleasure quarters and fights with a group of ruffian men. Though her actions are rather masculine on the outside, she also displays a delicate sense of femininity as well. The group fight at the end is a spectacular finale.

Dango Uri ['The Dumpling Peddlers']
This dance with Gidayū music portrays a couple making and selling rice dumplings on the streets. They demonstrate how they make the rice dumplings in a lively way. The making of rice dumplings is often associated with the prosperity of one's descendants, so it is considered to bring good fortune.

KOBIKICHŌ NO ADAUCHI

['The Vendetta at Kobikichō']

CAST :

Inō Kikunosuke

Ichikawa Somegorō

Shinoda Kinji

Matsumoto Kōshirō

Hotaru

Nakamura Kazutarō

Sanogawa Tsumahei

Onoe Tatsunosuke Ⅲ, changing his name from Onoe Sakon Ⅲ

Eiji, a costumer

Ōtani Hirotarō

Inō Seizaemon

Ichikawa Komazō

Sakubē, a servant of the Inō family

Nakamura Kinnosuke

Kyūzō, a property man

Nakamura Ganjirō

Yosaburō, a choreographer

Nakamura Matagorō

Yone, Kyūzō’s wife

Nakamura Jakuemon

STORY :

This is a new kabuki production adapted from an historical novel by prize-winning novelist Nagai Sayako, set in Kobikichō where the Kabukiza is situated. Inō Seizaemon, the chief retainer of a daimyō lord, suddenly slashes at his son Kikunosuke who has returned from horse riding. While Kikunosuke is bewildered by his usually calm father's sudden change, his servant Sakubē crosses swords with Seizaemon and flees. Kikunosuke heads for Edo to avenge his father's death on Sakubē. Accepting his mother's advice, Kikunosuke goes to the Moritaza Theatre at Kobikichō. Spending days looking for his father's killer, and assisted by those concerned with the theatre, one day Kikunosuke encounters the playwright Kinji and…