in Ginza

Ginza

is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi.It is known as an upscale area of Tokyo with numerous department stores, boutiques, restaurants and coffeehouses. Ginza is recognized as one of the most...

 was the principal theater in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 for the traditional kabuki

Kabuki

is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...

drama form.

Architecture

The original Kabuki-za was a wooden structure, built in 1889 on land which had been either the Tokyo residence of the Hosokawa clan

Hosokawa clan

The ' was a Japanese samurai clan, descended from Emperor Seiwa and a branch of the Minamoto clan, by the Ashikaga clan. It produced many prominent officials in the Ashikaga shogunate's administration. In the Edo period, the Hosokawa clan was one of the largest landholding daimyo families in Japan...

 of Kumamoto, or that of Matsudaira clan

Matsudaira clan

The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. It first originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province . Over the course of its history, the clan produced many branches, most of which also centered around Mikawa Province...

 of Izu

Izu Province

was a province of Japan in the area of Shizuoka Prefecture. Izu bordered on Sagami and Suruga Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was .The mainland portion of Izu Province, comprising the Izu Peninsula is today the eastern portion of Shizuoka Prefecture and the Izu Islands are now part of...

.

The building was destroyed in 1921. Since it burned down from an electrical fire, the second building was designed to "be fireproof, yet carry traditional Japanese architectural styles

Japanese architecture

' originated in prehistoric times with simple pit-houses and stores that were adapted to a hunter-gatherer population. Influence from Han Dynasty China via Korea saw the introduction of more complex grain stores and ceremonial burial chambers....

", and at the same time using Western building materials such as lighting equipment.

The reconstruction commenced in 1922, and was uncompleted when the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake

1923 Great Kanto earthquake

The struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58:44 am JST on September 1, 1923. Varied accounts hold that the duration of the earthquake was between 4 and 10 minutes...

 struck. It was rebuilt in a baroque Japanese revivalist style, meant to evoke the architectural details of Japanese castle

Japanese castle

' were fortresses composed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century...

s, as well as temples of pre-Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

. The theater was again heavily damaged in the Allied bombing during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. It was restored in 1950 preserving the style of 1924 reconstruction, and was until recently one of Tokyo's more dramatic and traditional buildings.

The structure was demolished in spring 2010, while the rebuilding is expected to take three years. Reasons cited for the reconstruction include concerns over the building's ability to survive earthquakes, as well as accessibility issues. A series of farewell performances, entitled were held from January through April 2010, after which kabuki performances take place at the nearby Shinbashi Enbujō

Shinbashi Enbujo

The ' is a theatre in the Ginza neighborhood of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major kabuki venue, though other types of performances take place there as well....

 and elsewhere until the opening of the new theatre complex, currently scheduled for 2013.

History

The Kabuki-za was originally opened by a Meiji era journalist, Fukuchi Gen'ichirō

Fukuchi Genichiro

was a Japanese critic and author, also known under the pseudonym .-Biography:Fukuchi was born in Nagasaki, Japan. He traveled Europe as a translator, and in 1874, became a main writer for the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun newspaper. In 1882, he formed the Constitutional Imperial Rule Party....

. Fukuchi wrote kabuki dramas in which Ichikawa Danjūrō IX

Ichikawa Danjuro IX

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX was one of the most successful and famous Kabuki actors of the Meiji period ....

 and others starred; upon Danjūrō's death in 1903, Fukuchi retired from the management of the theatre. The theatre was then taken over by the Shochiku

Shochiku

is a Japanese movie studio and production company for kabuki. It also produces and distributes anime films. Its best remembered directors include Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Yōji Yamada...

Corporation in 1914; the theatre is exclusively run by the company since.

The Kabuki-za Theatrical Corporation was listed in 1924. As a corporation, the company's business mostly depends on the management fee and leasing fee income of the theatre building to Shochiku, and provisioning of catering service on site. The land itself on which the theatre stands is owned by Shochiku.

Performances

Performances are exclusively run by Shochiku. They are held nearly every day at Kabuki-za, and tickets are sold for individual acts as well as for the play in its entirety. As is the case for most kabuki venues, programs are organized monthly; that is to say, each month there is a given set of plays and dances that make up the afternoon performance, and a different set comprising the evening show. These are repeated on a nearly daily schedule for 3-4 weeks, with the new month bringing a new program.

External links

• Kabuki-za Official Site (in Japanese)
• Kabuki-za Official Site (in English)
• Shochiku kabuki-za site (in English)
• Kabuki21.com - site lists major actors and plays performed over the theater's 100+ year history.