It is nothing new for kabuki actors to go out of Tokyo to perform, but Nakamura Kichiemon recently took an unprecedented step to provoke interest among young schoolchildren in the traditional theater.
Kichiemon, one of the nation's top kabuki actors, led a group of players to Yoyogi Middle School in Tokyo for a kabuki workshop featuring stage plays and a question-and-answer session before 146 seventh graders and their teachers.
The workshop, held under the auspices of the Organization for the Preservation of Traditional Kabuki, marked the first time kabuki actors and musicians have gone to a middle school to perform.