Kanamaru-za

photo by 663highland · CC BY 2.5

photo by Photos of Japan · CC0

Japan's oldest kabuki theatre, dating from 1835, still runs its stage and trapdoor by hand.

Beneath the stage, the stagehands turn the revolving stage by hand and lift the actors up through the trapdoor, the ‘suppon’, as in the nineteenth century: arms only, no motor. The auditorium has 740 seats on tatami, and the stage machinery (trapdoor included) is the original, working again after being lost in a century of alterations.

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.

ℹ️ Visits to the building only (not the performances) 9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30, all year except on the days of setting up/dismantling for the April festival, when the interior cannot be visited freely. Tickets 500 yen adults, 300 yen junior high/high school students, 200 yen children. 20 minutes’ walk from JR Kotohira or Kotoden Kotohira. Tickets for the April performances of the 四国こんぴら歌舞伎大芝居 are sold separately, at a much higher price, and sell out well in advance.

🚉 Kotohira · 15 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org · konpirakabuki.jp · shochiku.co.jp

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