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"), Sakurada Jisuke's 1773 drama based on the tragic story of the 12th-century martial hero, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, who flees to the north as he is persecuted by his older brother Yoritomo.

"Kanjincho" consists of shuko (elements) from the well-known Shibaraku style originated by Ichikawa Danjuro I in 1697. Shibaraku is the style of play in which a superhuman hero stops a villain by calling out "Shibaraku (Wait a Minute)." This is used here preceding an episode from the noh play "Ataka" when the wise and powerful retainer Benkei gets his master, Yoshitsune, past the closely guarded barrier at Ataka (Ishikawa Prefecture).

Shibaraku is usually performed by a tachiyaku (male lead), but currently it is being performed by a "female lead," Nakamura Jakuemon, the distinguished onnagata, who is still acting, amazingly, at the age of 84. Wearing a spectacular costume, Jakuemon appears as Hatsuhana, the younger sister of another of Yoshitsune's retainers, Kumai Tadamoto. The dashing heroine rescues Lady Iwate, Yoshitsune's wife, from being killed by a wicked nobleman coveting Iwate. Jakuemon, as the heroine of this Shibaraku, lends delicate feminine nuances to his gestures and movements. Shibaraku is a superb example of the bombastic aragoto kabuki acting of Edo.