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May 04, 2024
 

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Rei Sasaguchi
For Rei Sasaguchi's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
CULTURE / Stage
May 23, 2001
Dankikusai passes torch to a new generation
For the month of May, the Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo is presenting a special program celebrating the Dankikusai (Danjuro-Kikugoro Festival). The afternoon program features "The Tale of Genji, Part II" in three acts, and the evening program includes two strikingly intense plays, "Gappo's Abode" and "Ise Ondo."
CULTURE / Stage
May 13, 2001
The makings of an omozukai
Tamao Yoshida is a dominating figure in the bunraku theater of today: A living national treasure, he has a 62-year history as a puppeteer. Onstage, he is elegantly composed, his countenance impassive as he manipulates his puppet with the aid of two assistants covered in black. Offstage, he is vigorous and forthright, and chain smokes his way through conversation.
CULTURE / Stage
May 13, 2001
Bunraku: No strings attached
Bunraku is a dramatic performance staged with puppets, each of which is manipulated by a team of three men, with narration and dialogue provided by a separate singer accompanied by a shamisen.
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 25, 2001
Undying loyalty in ancient China
Ennosuke Ichikawa is presenting his latest "Super Kabuki" production, "Shin Sangokushi II (New Record of the Three Kingdoms, Part II)" at Tokyo's Shinbashi Enbujo Theater through May, leading members of his personal troupe including Danshiro (his younger brother), Ukon, En'ya, Emiya, Emisaburo and Shun'en.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 11, 2001
Buddhist treasures undimmed by time
Daigoji Temple has maintained its status as one of Japan's leading Buddhist temples upholding the Shingon sect since its foundation in Kyoto over 1,100 years ago. Named a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1994, the temple is a veritable treasury of Japanese Buddhist sculpture, scripture, esoteric paintings and iconographic drawings.
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 24, 2001
Honor through death for the 47
"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.
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 17, 2001
Two women, a ghost and a very big fish
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)."
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 23, 2001
Keeping it all in the family
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.
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 19, 2000
Monkey magic takes hold of the Kabukiza
The Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo is ending the year 2000 with two selections of plays and dance numbers befitting the occasion.
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 21, 2000
Kabuki greats show their faces in new season
During the month of November, the Kabukiza Theater in Tokyo is offering its annual kaomise program in two parts.
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 20, 2000
Bloodthirsty tales of revenge
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."
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 19, 2000
Heirs toddle onstage to pass torch of Utaemon
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.
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 18, 2000
Ennosuke lights up the stage with super summer program
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.
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 20, 2000
Tales of love, pride, loyalty and death
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.
CULTURE / Stage
May 20, 2000
Still shining after all these years
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.
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 21, 2000
Legacy of Kanzaburo Nakamura commemorated at the Kabukiza
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 Hairdresser," separated by a set of dances titled "Cherry Blossoms," "Crickets" and "A Snowman," created in 1964 as personal showpieces for Kanzaburo.
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 21, 2000
Mercy, sorrow and sacrifice in spring Kabukiza program
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 Jakuemon Nakamura.
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 22, 2000
Edo Period internationalism: kabuki's Hakata smugglers
The Kabukiza's programs for the month of February offer some of kabuki's biggest stars, including tachiyaku (male leads) Danjuro Ichikawa, Kikugoro Onoe and Kichiemon Nakamura. Jakuemon Nakamura, the distinguished 79-year-old onnagata actor, appears opposite Kichiemon in two plays in the evening program, and Ganjiro Nakamura, master of the gentle, realistic wagoto style of acting, also appears.
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 22, 2000
New Year dragon roars on two kabuki stages
To start off the year of the dragon, two major kabuki programs are being presented in Tokyo, at the Kabukiza and the Shinbashi Enbujo.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 21, 1999
The sorrow and the pity: fateful meetings at Kabukiza
Through the month of September, the Kabukiza Theater in Ginza is offering an excellent selection of historical and realistic plays and a dance number for the afternoon and evening, starring Uzaemon Ichimura, Kichiemon Nakamura, Tomijuro Nakamura and Baigyoku Nakamura. Participating also in the current programs are prominent onnagata actors such as Jakuemon Nakamura, Shikan Nakamura and Sojuro Sawamura.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

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