The was one of the major

kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

theatres in

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

(modern-day

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) during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

and into the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

. Not being one of the four theatres formally licensed by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, the theatre was largely inactive for long stretches of time, operating only when the Morita-za, facing financial difficulties or physical destruction of its theatre building, temporarily lent its license to the Kawarazaki-za. It was established in 1656 and was managed by members of the Kawarazaki family of actors until 1875.

History

The Kawarazaki-za was opened in 1656 by Kawarazaki Gonnosuke I. In 1670, the shogunate issued licenses to four theatres in the city, forbidding the others, including the Kawarazaki-za, from operating. The Kawarazaki-za was, therefore, largely inactive until 1735, when it obtained the license from the bankrupt Morita-za, losing it once more in 1744. The theatre then reacquired the Morita-za's license from 1790 to 1797, producing a number of plays including ''

Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura ''Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura'' (義経千本桜), or ''Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees'', is a Japanese play, one of the three most popular and famous in the kabuki repertoire. Originally written in 1747 for the bunraku, jōruri puppet the ...

'' in 1794. The fourth period of operation, from 1800 to 1808, saw performances by the Morita family of actors from the Morita-za. '' Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami'' was performed for the first time at the Kawarazaki-za in 1802, featuring a number of actors of the Ichikawa family. The theatre continued to hold the Morita-za license for much of the 19th century, on and off. A great number of plays premiered at the Kawarazaki-za during this period; one of the most famous was '' Kanjinchō'', featuring the character of Benkei, which premiered in March 1840. The theatre was destroyed in the 1855 Ansei Edo earthquake, and was not reopened until 1874. In a '' shūmei'' (naming ceremony) held at the theatre at that time, actor Kawarazaki Sanshō took on the prestigious name

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX was one of the most successful and famous Kabuki actors of the Meiji period (1868–1912). Ninth in the line of actors to hold the name Ichikawa Danjūrō, he is depicted in countless ''ukiyo-e'' actor prints ('' yakusha-e''), and is widely ...

, which had not been held for twenty years. The following year, however, the theatre was sold to a group of investors from outside the kabuki families; it was renamed the Shinbori-za and went bankrupt and closed two years later, in 1877.

''Zamoto'' (head of the theatre)

* Kawarazaki Gonnosuke I (1656–1690)These dates reflect not the birth and death of the actor, but rather the years during which he served as ''zamoto'', or head of the theatre. * Kawarazaki Gonnosuke II (1691–1735) * Kawarazaki Gonnosuke III (1735–1744) * Kawarazaki Gonnosuke IV (1790–1796) * Kawarazaki Gonnosuke V (1796–1830) * Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VI (1830–1855) * Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VIII (1874–1875)

Reference and Notes

Kawarazaki-za at Kabuki21.com
{{coord missing, Japan Former kabuki theatres 1656 establishments in Japan Buildings and structures completed in 1656 1877 disestablishments