author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 22, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Rei Sasaguchi
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 24, 2007
Tale of treason
In 1582, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-98), a man of humble origins, became Japan's taiko (prime minister) after the death of the warlord Oda Nobunaga. But the taiko in "Ehon Taikoki (Records of the Taiko)," a bunraku (traditional Japanese puppet) play written by Chikamatsu Yanagi and collaborators in 1799,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 22, 2007
Meeting his muse -- Tamasaburo Bando
'Iwrote this play with Tamasaburo Bando in mind for the role of Chujohime," says Haruo Moriyama. "I have been his fan ever since I saw him enacting Shiranuihime in Yukio Mishima's 'Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki (Adventures of Minamoto no Tametomo)' at the National Theater in 1969."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 18, 2007
An inheritance of kabuki roles
"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."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 26, 2006
"47 Loyal Retainers" for the 40th anniversary
''My appointment by Commissioner Hayao Kawai of the Agency for Cultural Affairs to direct the Japan Arts Council came as a total surprise," says Kazuaki Tsuda, "though I must confess I am having a great time. I spent 50 years selling whisky, and now I am selling culture!"
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 10, 2006
Kyogen meets contemporary theater
For the past 20 years, Kazuhiro Morisaki has promoted the comical performing art form of kyogen, but that doesn't make him a purist.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 25, 2006
Playing for his master
"I entered the world of bunraku by accident, without knowing anything about it," says shamisen player Tsuruzawa Enjiro, who has just received the prestigious stage name Tsuruzawa Enza (VI) previously held by his master.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 16, 2006
Paying respect to a father, and a scholar
In 1962, in order reverse a general decline in kabuki in Osaka, Kataoka Nizaemon XIII mobilized his three sons and a number of friends to independently stage their own performance. Osaka's kabuki world, after thriving during the first few decades of the 20th century, had lost its financial backing in...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 19, 2006
With new name, Sakata Tojuro free to revive kamigata-style acting
In 1953, kabuki actor Nakamura Ganjiro III (then known as Nakamura Senjaku) scored his first major success on a Tokyo stage with his unorthodox perfomance in "Sonezaki Shinju (Double Suicide at Sonezaki)," a 1703 work by the celebrated playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon. The director, Nobuo Uno, allowed...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Nov 17, 2005
Passion for kabuki
After working for the Tokyo National Theater for almost 35 years, Koji Orita became director of its Department of Performing Arts in 2003.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 15, 2005
New revenge of the giant Heike crabs
The term shin kabuki, literally "new kabuki," describes a genre of plays created from the early Meiji Era (1868-1912) through World War II by prominent playwrights such as Shoyo Tsubouchi (1859-1935), Kido Okamoto (1872-1939) and Seika Mayama (1878-1948). Until the preceding Edo Period (1603-1868), classic...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 20, 2005
Shakespeare as never before
Last October, 27-year-old kabuki actor Onoe Kikunosuke called theater director Yukio Ninagawa, who was working in London at the time, to see if he would create a unique kabuki piece for Kikunosuke's debut production for the Kabuki-za.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 11, 2005
Vengeful tale of sweet poison
The Bunraku version of "Sendaihagi," currently running at the National Theater, Tokyo, begins when Yoshitsuna, Lord of Sendai, retires from his position and hands his post to his young son Tsurukiyo. He abdicates because he has been plotted against by his uncle Nishikido Gyobu and Kageyu, his chief retainer....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Mar 16, 2005
A star is born as an actor gets his name
The Kabukiza in Ginza is presenting special kabuki programs in March, April and May to celebrate the shumei (succession to a stage name) of Nakamura Kanzaburo XVIII. Kanzaburo, 50, has mastered both tachiyaku (male lead) and onnagata (female) roles. He is showing off his prowess by playing the leads...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jan 12, 2005
Stars come out in plays of love and loyalty
Kabuki is flourishing in Tokyo at the beginning of the year of the cock as the four of the city's major theaters vie with one another to present the best kabuki performances. At the Tokyo National Theater in Hanzomon, there is a three-hour production of "Gohiiki Kanjincho" (literally "Our Favorite Kanjincho"),...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 15, 2004
Servants of too many masters
The Tokyo National Theater is currently showing a three-hour bunraku performance drawn from the play "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami" (literally translated as: "Sugawara Certifies a Disowned Disciple to Perpetuate His Line of Calligraphy"), written by Takeda Izumo and collaborators in 1746.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Oct 20, 2004
Koshiro IX does this family's tradition proud
The Kabukiza is currently presenting two plays from its October program as tsuizen (memorial) performances for Matsumoto Koshiro VIII, who died in 1982. Koshiro VIII, also known by the stage name of Matsumoto Hakuo, considered these plays very important to the repertoire he performed, so it is significant...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 15, 2004
Tale of a wrestler, his mother, stepbrother and also his wife
Audiences at the Tokyo National Theater are being treated to two full-length Bunraku masterpieces being staged in its smaller auditorium this month.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 18, 2004
Chilling tales to cool the heat off summertime in Ginza
The Kabukiza in Ginza is currently presenting three shows, all of which feature 49-year-old Nakamura Kankuro, performing alongside members of his family -- his sons Kantaro and Shichinosuke, as well as brothers-in-law, Fukusuke and Hashinosuke.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 14, 2004
Epic drama of love, reincarnation and revenge
Although Ichikawa Ennosuke, 64, the founder of "Super Kabuki," may be absent from the stage due to illness, his company of 25 are delighting audiences with their production of Tsuruya Namboku's classic masterpiece, "Sakurahime Azuma Bunsho (The Story of Sakurahime)" at the Kabukiza Theater this month....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 9, 2004
An Ebizo XI is born
The Kabukiza in Ginza has been drawing crowds of Kabuki lovers to its special performances in May and June to celebrate the birth of Ichikawa Ebizo XI. The "newborn" is, in fact, 26 years old -- the tall, handsome tachiyaku (male lead) Ichikawa Shinnosuke, son of Ichikawa Danjuro XII (who last year starred...
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER