20
SUNNY
Pope Francis’ fascination with the devil took on remarkable new twists Tuesday, with a well-known exorcist insisting Francis helped “liberate” a Mexican man possessed by four different demons despite the Vatican’s insistence that no such papal exorcism took place. The case concerns a 43-year-old ...
It’s no surprise that the Japanese get serious about eating and drinking come late spring, as yatai food carts roll out, a bevy of fresh vegetables appear on restaurant menus and the annual festival season begins to heat up. This year is no different, ...
“I was stopped by two men in a government-registered vehicle, blindfolded and dragged off the street. They took me away to a house in a place I did not know. I was forced into a room with blood all over the walls and floor, ...
Claude Regy says the team at the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC) threw him the “best birthday party ever” when he arrived in Japan just days after the actual May 1 occasion. The 90-year-old French director is hoping for an even better birthday gift, ...
As far as debuts go, Shohei Otani's delivered. The celebrated rookie pitched fairly well on Thursday night, and though he finished outside the decision, he left the mound with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters well within striking distance of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
“Chushingura (The 47 Loyal Retainers),” the most famous kabuki play on thetheme of revenge, is being staged at Tokyo’s Shinbashi Enbujo Theater this month. En’ya Hangan (played by Kikugoro Onoe) commits seppuku as his chief retainer (played by Danjuro Ichikawa) looks on. Taking title ...
An abridged version of Tsuruya Nanboku IV’s 1809 play “Okuni Gozen Kesho no Sugatami” is being presented at the National Theater in Tokyo until Tuesday under the title “Imayo Kasane Kesho no Sugatami (Kasane Putting on Her Makeup).” The actors praying for success at ...
The Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo is starting 2001 with special programs to celebrate the succession (shumei) of Yasosuke Bando, 45, to the prestigious stage name Mitsugoro Bando X, left to him by his father Mitsugoro IX on his death in April 1999. This month ...
The Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo is ending the year 2000 with two selections of plays and dance numbers befitting the occasion. This month’s lead actors are Danjuro Ichikawa, Ennosuke Ichikawa, Koshiro Matsumoto, Ennosuke’s younger brother Danshiro, Yasosuke Bando, Shikan Nakamura and Sojuro Sawamura. Ennosuke ...
During the month of November, the Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo is offering its annual kaomise program in two parts. Kaomise means literally “face-showing,” and was the most important kabuki event of the year during the 18th and 19th centuries. In autumn every year, each ...
The Kabukiza’s October afternoon program features Seika Mayama’s 1940 masterwork “The Hama Detached Palace” and Segawa Joko’s well-known 1853 sewamono (realistic play) “Genjidana.” Nizaemon Kataoka takes lead roles in both plays, while Tamasaburo Bando appears as Otomi in “Genjidana.” Tamasaburo (rear) and Ennosuke in ...
During the month of September, the Kabukiza in Tokyo is presenting a special program comprising four well-known plays and two famous dance numbers in memory of Utaemon Nakamura V, the onnagata actor who died in 1940 at the age of 75. Trained under Shikan ...
July is the month for Ennosuke Ichikawa at the Kabukiza. For the champion of Super Kabuki, this year’s event is particularly significant because it marks the 30th performance since the initial presentation of his summer program at the Kabukiza. For the afternoon program, Ennosuke ...
Murder leads off and finishes up the Kabukiza’s June playbill in the usual midori sampler of acts from different plays separated by dance numbers. Taking title roles are three top tachiyaku (male leads): Danjuro Ichikawa, Koshiro Matsumoto and Nizaemon Kataoka. Shikan Nakamura, 72, leads ...
May is the month of the Dankikusai (Danjuro-Kikugoro Festival) at the Kabukiza in Tokyo’s Ginza, commemorating the outstanding achievements of Danjuro Ichikawa IX and Kikugoro Onoe V, the two giants of kabuki theater in the Meiji Era. The highlight of this year’s program is ...
The Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo is presenting a special program this month in memory of Kanzaburo Nakamura XVII, who died 12 years ago, at the age of 78. The afternoon program features the well-known jidaimono (historical play) “Shunkan” and Mokuami Kawatake’s sewamono masterpiece, “Shinza ...
The Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo has been celebrating the advent of spring this month with attractive afternoon and evening programs, featuring Danjuro Ichikawa, Koshiro Matsumoto and Kikugoro Onoe in title roles, and leading senior actors such as Uzaemon Ichimura, Tomijuro Nakamura and onnagata veteran ...