Kabuki-za Theater Opening Day

What Is Kabuki-za Theater Opening Day?

November 21 is "Kabuki-za Theater Opening Day" in Japan. On November 21, 1889, the Kabuki-za theater opened in Kobikicho, Tokyo (today's Higashi-Ginza). The driving force behind it was Fukuchi Gen'ichiro (pen name Ochi), a Meiji-era journalist and playwright. At the time, theaters were usually named after their location or owner, as with the Shintomi-za and Nakamura-za, so the name "Kabuki-za" was unusual. Kobikicho had once been home to the Morita-za theater, one of the three great Edo theaters, but it had been moved to Asakusa in 1841 under the Tenpo Reforms, so a major theater returned to the area after about half a century.

A History of Rebuilding

The first Kabuki-za was built as a base for the theater reform movement, with a Western-style exterior and a Japanese-style interior. In 1911 it was remodeled in a Japanese palace style, and since 1913 it has been run by Shochiku. It has been rebuilt several times since, and today's building is the "fifth-generation Kabuki-za," which opened in 2013. Its low-rise front keeps a Japanese Momoyama-style exterior, while the floors from the fifth up form the "Kabuki-za Tower" office building. Underground is "Kobikicho Hiroba," connected to Higashi-Ginza subway station.

Tips for First-Time Kabuki Viewers

• Earphone guide: an audio commentary service helps beginners follow the story
• Hitomakumi seats: seats for watching just one act of the matinee or evening program, a system unique to the Kabuki-za
• Sujigaki (program booklet): a booklet with plot summaries and actor profiles you can read in advance
• Omukou: shouts of actors' house names from the audience, a distinctive part of kabuki's audience culture

Kabuki, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage

Kabuki was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2008. With onnagata (male actors who play female roles), kumadori makeup that emphasizes a character's nature, and stage devices such as the revolving stage and the hanamichi walkway, it is a total art form shaped over some 400 years. The word "kabuki" is said to come from "kabuku," meaning to behave in an eccentric, unconventional way. Let Kabuki-za Theater Opening Day be a chance to experience Japan's traditional performing arts again.