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.

The afternoon program begins with the seasonable dance number "Okuni and Sanza," in which onnagata actor Tokizo Nakamura performs as Okuni, the woman who started kabuki odori (kabuki dance) four centuries ago. Set in the grounds of the Kitano Shrine in Kyoto in the spring of 1603, the year the Tokugawa shogunate was established, Okuni's performance was called kabuki odori because she appeared as a dashing young samurai dressed in exotic kabuki fashion.

In this work, created by Shigure Hasegawa and Kanjuro Fujima, Okuni, in an elegant trailing black kimono with a design of cherry blossoms, dances to nagauta music with the ghost of Nagoya Sanza, a handsome young samurai who was killed around the time Okuni first presented kabuki odori in Kyoto. Sanza is played by Koshiro's son Somegoro.

"Okuni and Sanza" is followed by part of "The Attack on the Edo Castle," a modern historical play written by Seika Mayama in three installments from 1926 to 1934. The current version, subtitled "Rintaro and Kichinosuke" and directed by the playwright's daughter Miho, consists of Act I, Scene 2, from "The Attack on the Edo Castle" and Act I from part three, "The Shogun Leaves Edo."

In the spring of 1868, the Tokugawa shogunate is heading toward the end of its 250-year supremacy. The royalists win a battle against the shogun's forces, forcing Yoshinobu, the last of the 15 Tokugawa shoguns, to surrender sovereignty to Emperor Meiji. Having marched into the town of Edo (present-day Tokyo) on March 6, the royalist forces are now awaiting orders from Saigo Kichinosuke (Takamori) from Satsuma, chief commander of the royalists, to attack Edo Castle, the shogun's headquarters, on March 15.

On March 14, Katsu Rintaro (Kaishu), naval advisor to the Tokugawa shogunate, visits Saigo at the Edo residence of Lord Shimazu, daimyo of the domain of Satsuma. Several days earlier, Katsu sent Yamaoka Tetsutaro, a shogunate loyalist, to Shizuoka to entreat Saigo to stop the attack on Edo Castle. Trying desperately to save the deposed shogun from being killed by the royalists, Katsu has even persuaded the British ambassador to give political asylum to Yoshinobu if necessary.

In the garden overlooking the bay in which the shogun's warships are anchored, Saigo and Katsu exchange greetings. Saigo then surprises Katsu by declaring he will stop tomorrow's attack on condition that Edo Castle surrenders unconditionally and Yoshinobu agrees to become a subject of the emperor.

Saigo confides to Katsu what has made him change his mind about the planned attack: the sight of Mount Fuji on his way to Edo, the panoramic view of Edo from the top of Gotenyama Hill, and a sardine vendor quarreling with several townsmen over the price of his fish behind the Satsuma residence. The play ends with Saigo thanking Katsu cordially for helping him avoid the mistake of destroying the great town of Edo and its innumerable inhabitants.

Danjuro is convincing as the extraordinary Saigo, delivering lines in Saigo's native Kagoshima dialect, while Koshiro is perfect as the shrewd and prudent Katsu.

In the dance drama "The Sumida River," Jakuemon portrays Lady Hanjo, the widow of a prominent nobleman, pathetically deranged by the kidnapping of her young son Umewakamaru. Based on the noh play "Sumidagawa," "The Sumida River" was one of Utaemon Nakamura's favorite dance numbers; he monopolized the part of Lady Hanjo for 40 years after his initial performance in 1953.

Searching for her abducted son, Hanjo arrives at the Sumida River in Edo late one spring afternoon, exhausted after traveling all the way from Kyoto. She meets a kind ferryman and hears from him the sad story of a 12-year-old boy who fell ill and died by the river exactly a year ago.

When she learns the name of the boy in question, Hanjo's grief knows no bounds. Led to the spot where the boy is buried, Hanjo embraces the small mound as if hugging her son, now lost forever. Hanjo's despair is conveyed by Jakuemon's subtle facial expressions and through exquisite motions of his body and hands.

Performed to the accompaniment of melancholy Kiyomoto music, "The Sumida River" is a challenge for performers, as Hanjo's sorrow and grief must be expressed with minimal movement and the element of dance is suppressed to the extreme. Jakuemon's portrayal is enhanced by the skillful performance of Tomijuro, Jaku-emon's long-time partner in kabuki dance, in the part of the sympathetic ferryman.

The afternoon program also includes Mokuami Kawatake's 1881 sewamono masterpiece "A Snowy Night at Iriya," in which Kikugoro plays Naojiro, a handsome ruffian with a samurai background, opposite Fukusuke Nakamura in the part of Naojiro's courtesan-lover Michitose.

The main feature of the evening program is the latter half of the famous "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami," adapted from the 1746 bunraku play about the downfall of the renowned 10th-century statesman Sugawara Michizane. In the three acts, "Kurumabiki (Pulling an Ox-carriage)," "Ga no Iwai (The 70th Birthday Party)" and "Terakoya (A Private School)," Danjuro as Umeomaru, Koshiro as Matsuomaru and Kikugoro as Sakuramaru form a marvelous team, performing to the accompaniment of Gidayu music and narration.

"Kurumabiki," a perfect exemplar of stylized, bombastic aragoto acting, is set in front of the Yoshida Shrine in Kyoto. Meeting an ox-carriage in which Michizane's enemy Shihei is riding, Umeomaru and Sakuramaru prepare to attack it, but are checked by their brother Matsuomaru, who serves Shihei. Shihei appears from inside the carriage and glares at them fiercely, and Umeomaru and Sakuramaru decide to postpone their fight with Matsuomaru until after their father's birthday. The three brothers, clad in splendid costume, close the act with mie poses.

"Ga no Iwai," in contrast, is lyrical and realistic. The three brothers and their wives get together in the village of Sata to celebrate the 70th birthday of their father Shiratayu (Uzaemon). The party ends in conflict and tragedy, though, because of the three brothers' positions on opposite sides of the dispute.

"Terakoya" takes place at the terakoya (private elementary school) run by Takebe Genzo, Michizane's most talented calligraphy pupil, and features fine performances by Tomijuro as Genzo and Jakuemon as Matsuomaru's wife Chiyo.

The act focuses on the confrontation between Genzo, trying desperately to save the life of Michizane's heir Kanshusai, who is in his custody, and Matsuomaru, determined to make up for being on the side of Michizane's mortal enemy Shihei by sacrificing his own son Kotaro. Matsuomaru has sent Kotaro and Chiyo to Genzo's terakoya, knowing that Kotaro will be killed by Genzo as a substitute for Kanshusai.

When the severed head of his son is brought out by Genzo, Matsuomaru declares to the inspector that it is the head of Michizane's son and heir. He suppresses his agony while examining Kotaro's head, but as soon as he is relieved of his painful duty, he faces Genzo and bursts into tears. Joined by Chiyo, Matsuomaru mourns for his son and his brother Sakuramaru, who has also died prematurely.