"I love Las Vegas shows," says kabuki actor Ichikawa Kamejiro. "I go to Las Vegas because I think they use the most advanced techniques to create stunning productions. I find their attitude toward show business completely different from ours."
This comment might seem surprising for a kabuki practitioner, but 32-year-old Kamejiro's uncle is Ichikawa Ennosuke, who was famous for trying to update kabuki with the creation of large-scale productions called "Super Kabuki" in the 1980s and '90s. Ennosuke's motto for these fast-paced shows was "Story, speed and spectacle."
Similarly, Kamejiro (born Takahiko Kinoshi) is no traditionalist. Best known as an onnagata (male actor who plays female roles), last year he surprised Japanese audiences with an outstanding performance as the 16th-century warlord Takeda Shingen in "Furin Kazan (Wind, Forest, Fire and Mountain)," a yearlong NHK television drama based on a historical novel by Yasushi Inoue (1907-91).