Randy's Japan Links

• Morning Program at 11am
  • "Hanakurabe Shiki no Kotobuki"  Four beautiful dance-stories representing the Four Seasons. Finishing with the lovely "Sagi Musume"  "The Heron Maiden".
  • "Musume Kagekiyo Yashima Nikki". A rare performance of a historical drama about the defeated general Kagekiyo, and his comforting daughter.
  
  
• Afternoon Program at 2:45pm:
  • "Daikyoji Mukashi Goyomi".  The tragic love drama about Osan and Mohei; and one of the most famous puppet plays.
  
  
• Evening Program at 6:30pm:
  • "Sonezaki Shinju" , "The Love Suicides at Sonezaki". In 1703, this puppet play was the first of (and prototype for) many "Double Suicide" stories dramatized on the stage. It caused a sensation, being produced soon after the real events which scandalized the country. A classic.
  
  
• Full Program Notes -- and schedule deviations...

NOTICE:  The venerable Kabuki-Za theatre in the Ginza will be torn down and reconstructed!  Beginning March, 2009 a 16-month run of "farewell performances" -- all by popular request, and bringing in the biggest stars -- will be presented at the Kabuki-za before it is closed in April, 2010!  The new Kabuki-za will re-open on the same site in March 2013.  In the meantime, Kabuki will take place a few blocks to the south in the Shinbashi Enbujo. (Between Higashi-Ginza and Tsuki-ji stations, under the Shuto Expressway.)  Not to be sad: the current building, dating from 1951, is the Fourth incarnation of the Kabuki-Za!

• Matinee program (11am):
  • "Tsumeo",  "The Talons of the King" A unique 20th century dance based on a children's story about a falconer.
  • "Shunkan"  Written for the puppets and based on the Noh play of the same name, it tells the story of the priest Shunkan, exiled to a deserted island by his rivals, the Heike.
  • "Kojo",  "Stage Announcement"  In a traditional departure from most performances, the Kojo involves several actors addressing the audiance directly, in honor and memorium for the late star Nakamura Kanzaburo XVII. Parts of plays for which he was famous may be performed.
  • "Jii-san Baa-san",  "Grandpa and Grandma"  Based on a 1915 short story, this play was first produced in 1951, about the life story of an old couple in the Tokugawa period.
  
  
• Evening program (4:30 pm):
  • "Tsubosaka Reigenki",  "The Miracle at Tsubosaka Temple"  The uplifting tale of the couple Osato and Sawaichi; their devotion and the miracle that saves them.
  • "Takatsuki",  "The Serving-Tray"  is a modern farsical dance-play about a bungling servant. [This play is usually set in a Cherry-blossom viewing spot, so February may be a little early.]
  • "Kagotsurube",  "The Courtesan Yatsuhashi and Sano Jirozaemon"  The love story of a homely merchant and a lovely courtesan turns ugly when her true love intercedes.   ["Kagotsurube" is the nickname of a sword, which literally means "drawing water with a basket", implying the sword cuts like water through a basket -- it cannot be stopped.]
  
  
• Full Program Notes