Kabuki, which dates back some 400 years to Izumo no Okuni, the leader of a women's theatrical troupe that caused a sensation in Kyoto, now appears to be riding an upsurge. Recently, the kabuki world saw a series of events that have caught people's attention and increased their interest.
Successions to famous kabuki names have occurred one after another -- Bando Mitsugoro (the 10th) in 2001, Onoe Shoroku (the fourth) in 2002, Ichikawa Ebizo (the 11th) in 2004 and Nakamura Kanzaburo (the 18th) in 2005.
On Nov. 25, the latest succession to a big kabuki name took place when Nakamura Ganjiro assumed the name of Sakata Tojuro (the fourth), reviving the name after a 231-year interregnum. To a Japanese society fed a stream of gloomy news about the aging of its population, Ganjiro's succession is bright news. Ganjiro was reborn as Tojuro at the age of 73. Formerly known as Nakamura Senjaku, Ganjiro had been designated a living national treasure in 1994.