Kanamaru-za 旧金毘羅大芝居（金丸座）
Japan's oldest kabuki theatre, dating from 1835, still runs its stage and trapdoor by hand.
Until 1835 kabuki was performed here only at the year's three market fairs, in temporary huts: as the pilgrimage to Konpira and its village grew, the Takamatsu domain authorised a permanent theatre, built on the model of the Ōnishi Shibai in Dōtonbori, Osaka, and flanked by a hall for drawing the tomikuji, the forerunner of the lottery. It changed its name several times (金毘羅大芝居, then 稲荷座, then 千歳座) before becoming ‘Kanamaru-za’ in 1900. An Important Cultural Property since 1970. The hall was dismantled in 1972 and rebuilt over four years on Atago hill, reopening in March 1976; a 2004 restoration added earthquake reinforcement and brought back the original stage machinery, trapdoor included.
Kagawa
Kotohira
