Based on a book of the same name by Kyokutei Bakin that was published in 96 volumes between 1814-42, the kabuki play "Nanso Satomi Hakkenden" ("Stories of Eight Men with the Character for 'Dog' in their Surnames") recounts how its protagonists strive to restore the fictional Satomi clan to power in what is now the south of Chiba Prefecture.
First staged at the National Theatre in Tokyo in 1969, then in 1982 and '91, the work is being performed there again this month — but in a new six-act, three-hour version by Atsumi Seitaro.
Leading the cast, and also directing, is 71-year-old Onoe Kikugoro, a veteran of the previous productions who plays loyal Inuyama Dosetsu. Others in his pack of actors include Nakamura Tokizo, 59; Ichikawa Danzo, 63; Ichikawa Sadanji, 74 — and his son Kikunosuke, 37, who takes his father's favorite role of Inuzuka Shino alongside Onoe Shoroku, 39, who plays both good guy Inukai Genpachi and a villain named Aboshi Samojiro.