was one of the three main ''

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 of

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 ...

alongside the

Morita-za The Morita-za (森田座・守田座), also known later as the Shintomi-za (新富座), was one of the major Kabuki theaters in Edo (modern-day Tokyo) during the Edo period and into the beginning of the 20th century. It was established in January 1 ...

and

Ichimura-za The was a major kabuki theatre in the Japanese capital of Edo (later, Tokyo), for much of the Edo period, and into the 20th century. It was first opened in 1634 and was run by members of the Ichimura family for much of the following nearly thre ...

History

It was founded in 1624 by

Nakamura Kanzaburō Nakamura Kanzaburō is a stage name taken on by a series of Kabuki actors of the Nakamura family. Most of these were blood relatives, though some were adopted into the family. Kanzaburō, like other actors' names, is bestowed (or given up) at gran ...

1st. The Nakamura-za relocated to the new capital

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

in 1868 and reopened under Nakamura Kanzaburō I's last direct descendant Nakamura Kanzaburo XIII (1828–1895) as

zamoto A ''zamoto'' (座元) is a manager of a kabuki theatre. Historically, the zamoto owned the theatre and was responsible for obtaining performance rights from the ''shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during m ...

. It was later also called the Miyako-za (). A real-size replica of the Nakamura-za is located at the

Edo-Tokyo Museum The is a historical museum located at 1-4-1 Yokoami, Sumida-Ku, Tokyo in the Ryogoku district. The museum opened in March 1993 to preserve Edo's cultural heritage, and features city models of Edo and Tokyo between 1590 (just prior to the ...

References

External links

Nakamura-za at Kabuki21.com
Former kabuki theatres Nihonbashi, Tokyo {{Japan-hist-stub