Naka no Shibai (中の芝居, Central Theatre), also known as Naka-za (中座), 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

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

History

It was first built in 1652, in Osaka's

Dōtonbori is a district in Osaka, Japan. Known as one of Osaka's principal tourist and nightlife areas, the area runs along the Dōtonbori canal from Dōtonboribashi Bridge to Nipponbashi, Nipponbashi Bridge in the Namba district of the city's Chūō-ku, O ...

entertainment district, and saw the premieres of many famous plays; closely related to the nearby '' jōruri'' theatres, Naka would often be the first to adapt puppet plays to the kabuki stage, and often also arranged the

Kamigata Kamigata (上方) was the colloquial term for a region today called Kansai region, Kansai (''kan'', barrier; ''sai'', west) in Japan. This large area encompasses the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. The term was also sometimes used to refer only ...

(Kansai) premieres of plays earlier performed 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 ...

. Also tied closely to other theatres in the area, and the general theatre culture and community of Kamigata, Naka hosted a number of competitions between actors and troupes, as well as reconciliation ceremonies between actors who had been feuding, and a variety of other theatrical community events. Some of the plays premiered at the Naka no Shibai include '' Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami'' (1745), ''

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 ...

'' (Aug. 1748), and ''

Kanadehon Chūshingura is an 11-act bunraku puppet play composed in 1748. It is one of the most popular Japanese plays, ranked with Zeami Motokiyo, Zeami's ''Matsukaze'', although the vivid action of ''Chūshingura'' differs dramatically from ''Matsukaze''. Medium Du ...

'' (Dec. 1748) which was first performed as a puppet play six months earlier. '' Ichi-no-Tani Futaba Gunki'' was first performed in Osaka, at the Naka no Shibai, in 1752, as was '' Meiboku Sendai Hagi'' in 1777. Destroyed by fire twice in 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 ...

(1868-1912), the theatre was rebuilt almost immediately in both instances, and saw the installation of electricity when rebuilt in 1884. In 1920, the theatre was bought by production company

Shōchiku is a Japanese entertainment company. Founded in 1895, it initially managed ''kabuki'' theaters in Kyoto; in 1914, it also acquired ownership of the Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo. In 1920, Shochiku entered the film production industry and establishe ...

, and renamed Naka-za. In November 1927, during a performance of ''Honzō Shimoyashiki'', actor Nakamura Jakuemon II collapsed and died on stage. Destroyed and rebuilt in 1934, the Naka-za became the most major theatre in the city, surpassing the Naniwa-za, but was destroyed along with most of the rest of the city in the 1945 Allied

bombing of Osaka in World War II The during the Pacific War was part of the strategic bombing air raids on Japan campaign waged by the United States against military and civilian targets and population centers in Japan. It first took place from the middle of the night on March ...

. The Naka-za was rebuilt once more, and reopened in 1948. Holding around 800 seats through most of its incarnations, this newest building held 1200. The theater was closed in 1999, however, by Shōchiku, on account of financial problems and the effects of the overall worsening

Japanese economy The economy of Japan is a highly developed mixed economy, often referred to as an East Asian model. According to the IMF forecast for 2025, it will be the fifth-largest economy in the world by nominal GDP as well as by purchasing power par ...

. The final kabuki performance at the Naka-za was ''Natsu Sugata Naniwa Goyomi'', featuring Kataoka Hidetarō II, Arashi Tokusaburō VII,

Bandō Takesaburō V Bandō may refer to: People *Eiji Bandō, Japanese entertainer/sportsman *Naoki Bandō, Japanese voice actor *, Japanese long-distance runner *, Japanese composer *Japanese surname, especially among Kabuki actors, such as: **Bandō Kakitsu I (1847� ...

Kataoka Ainosuke VI is a Japanese actor, kabuki actor and TV host. His ''yagō'' is ''matsushimaya''. His ''mon'' is the ''Oikake Go-mai Ichō''. His current stage name is Ainosuke Kataoka. He is a renowned ''tachiyaku'', specializing in both the ''aragoto , or ...

and Kamimura Kichiya VI. Though the theatre was not intentionally destroyed at that time, a gas explosion and the resulting fire in September 2002 burnt it to the ground. An office building now stands in its place.

References

Naka at Kabuki21.com
{{Authority control 1652 establishments in Japan Buildings and structures completed in 1652 1999 disestablishments in Japan Culture in Osaka Former kabuki theatres