Kabuki-za

The Kabuki-za was originally opened by a Meiji era journalist, Fukuchi Gen'ichirō. Fukuchi wrote kabuki dramas in which Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and others starred; upon Danjūrō's death in 1903, Fukuchi retired from the management of the theater. The theater is now run by the Shochiku Corporation which took over in 1914. The original Kabuki-za was a wooden structure, built in 1889 on land which had been either the Tokyo residence of the Hosokawa clan of Kumamoto, or that of Matsudaira clan of Izu. The building was destroyed on 30 October 1921, by an electrical fire. while using Western building materials and lighting equipment. Reconstruction had not been completed when it again burned down during the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. Rebuilding was finally completed in 1924. == Architecture ==

The style in 1924 was in a baroque Japanese revivalist style, meant to evoke the architectural details of Japanese castles, as well as temples of pre-Edo period. This style was kept after the post-war reconstruction and again after the 2013 reconstruction. Inside, with the latest reconstruction the theatre was outfitted with four new front curtains called doncho. These are by renowned Japanese artists in the Nihonga style and reflect the different seasons. ==Performances==

Performances are exclusively run by Shochiku, in which the Kabuki-za Theatrical Corporation is the largest shareholder. They are nearly every day, and tickets are sold for individual acts as well as for each play in its entirety. As is the case for most kabuki venues, programs are organized monthly: 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 three to four weeks, with the new month bringing a new program. Image:Kabukiza_Theater_Tokyo_1907-1911.jpg|Postcard depicting the original structure (1889-1911) Image:eka1022.jpg|Postcard depicting the theatre as rebuilt in 1911 (1911-1921) Image:eka1005.jpg|Postcard depicting the pre-war reconstructed theatre (1924-1945) Image:Kabuki-za Theatre 2010 0430.JPG|Photo of the post-war reconstructed theatre (1950-2010) Image:Kabuki-za Tokyo theatre interior.jpg|Theatre interior (2017) File:Kabukiza - Tokyo - 2025-06-02.webm|The theatre on a sunny day (2025) ==References==