AYATSURI SANBASŌ

['The Marionette Sanbasō']

CAST :

Sanbasō

Ichikawa Udanji

STORY :

Sanbasō is one character in the ritual Nō play 'Okina', which is a kind of prayer for peace and prosperity. The Sanbasō dance appears in many forms and in this particular version, the Sanbasō is shown as a giant marionette. The marionette Sanbasō is taken out of its box by a stage assistant and starts dancing in a sprightly manner.

NARUKAMI

['The Thunder God']

CAST :

Priest Narukami

Nakamura Fukunosuke (Program A)
Nakamura Takanosuke (Program B）

Princess Kumonotaema

Ōtani Hiromatsu

STORY :

One of the oldest plays in the kabuki repertory, 'Narukami' combines the bombastic 'aragoto' acting style with the universal theme of human frailty and desire, depicted with the earthy comedy of early kabuki. Angry at the imperial court, the priest Narukami imprisons the rain god, bringing a severe drought. Princess Kumonotaema comes as a spy to seduce Narukami and break his power. When Narukami realizes that he has been betrayed, his anger transforms him into a thunder god.

Ichinotani Futaba Gunki
KUMAGAI JIN'YA

['Kumagai's Battle Camp' from 'The Chronicles of the Battle of Ichinotani']

CAST :

Kumagai Naozane

Ichikawa Danjūrō

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

Nakamura Toranosuke

Byakugō no Midaroku, in reality, Yahēbyōe Munekiyo

Ichikawa Omezō

Lady Fuji

Nakamura Senjaku

Sagami, Naozane’s wife

Nakamura Jakuemon

STORY :

This is a play based on episodes from the Battle of Ichinotani, one of the climactic struggles between the Heike and Genji clans in the 12th century. At this battle, the Genji warrior Naozane attacks Taira no Atsumori. When Naozane returns to his battle camp, he finds his wife, Sagami, and Atsumori's mother, Lady Fuji. He tells them how he killed Atsumori and he shows the severed head of Atsumori to his lord Minamoto no Yoshitsune. However, in reality, the head is that of Naozane's own son. Yoshitsune suggested to Naozane indirectly that he sacrifice his son as a substitute for Atsumori, the son of the former Emperor. After doing so, and feeling the transience of human existence, Naozane rejects the life of a warrior to become a Buddhist priest.

KŌJŌ

['Stage Announcement']

CAST :

Ichikawa Danjūrō

STORY :

Ichikawa Danjūrō will make a formal stage announcement to the audience at the Shinbashi Enbujo Theatre.

YANONE

['The Arrowhead']

CAST :

Soga no Gorō

Ichikawa Shinnosuke

Soga no Jūrō

Nakamura Toranosuke

STORY :

This play is one of the great classics of the bombastic 'aragoto' style of acting. It shows the Soga brothers, Gorō and Jūrō, who suffer in poverty for eighteen years until they can avenge the death of their father. This play combines the antics of the super-strong Gorō with the comic, urbane and witty atmosphere of the kabuki of the Genroku Era. Gorō is sharpening a gigantic arrow when, in a dream, he is alerted to the fact that his brother is in danger. He explodes in a burst of energy and rushes to save him.

JIRAIYA GŌKETSU MONOGATARI

['The Tale of the Great Jiraiya']

CAST :

Jiraiya, in reality, Ogata Hiroyuki

Ichikawa Danjūrō

Grass mowing girl, in reality, Hiroyuki’s younger sister Princess Miyuki

Ichikawa Botan

Yashagorō, a bandit

Ichikawa Udanji

Takasago Yuminosuke

Nakamura Senjaku

STORY :

In preparation

SHUNKYŌ KAGAMI JISHI

['Young Palace Maid and the Spirit of the Lion']

CAST :

Yayoi, a palace maid, later, the spirit of the lion

Ichikawa Danjūrō

The spirit of the butterfly

Ichikawa Botan

The spirit of the butterfly

Ichikawa Shinnosuke

STORY :

The palace maid Yayoi performs an auspicious lion dance for the shōgun in his opulent palace, but as she does so she gradually finds herself coming under the control of the lion spirit. In the second half of the dance, the lion spirit itself appears and performs its frenzied dance among peonies and fluttering butterflies.