"I am particularly interested in Kikugoro VII," says Miyoko Goto, "because he fulfills all the qualifications for a Kabuki actor and because he can play both tachiyaku and onnagata roles equally well, while his father Baiko remained an onnagata."

Goto should know, as she has followed Kikugoro VII's family since she was just a child.

"I was 14 years old when I was taken to see a kabuki performance at the Tokyo Theater by my parents soon after the end of World War II," Goto told The Japan Times. "And over the past 60 years, I have followed the performances of the three generations of the actors who performed on that memorable day."