The is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

in the city of

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

, central

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It was originally constructed in 1800s and presents ''

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

'' and Western stage plays.

History

The tradition of ''kabuki'' in Nagoya goes back to the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

. With the opening of Japan to the West in the

Meiji era The is 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 colonization b ...

, the Japanese wooden structure was replaced with a permanent building that was constructed out of brick and mortar in the Western Renaissance style in 1895. This structure was enlargened by the 1920s with a pillared porch added to the front. The old theatre was destroyed during the

bombing of Nagoya in World War II The Bombing of Nagoya in World War II by the United States Army Air Forces took place as part of the air raids on Japan during the closing months of the war. History The first strategic bombing attack on Nagoya was on April 18, 1942, as part ...

. The new structure was constructed in the 1970s. A number of curtains, called ''doncho'', were designed for the theatre. The artist

Kataoka Tamako (5 January 1905 in Sapporo – 16 January 2008) was a Japanese ''Nihonga'' painter. She is known for her series of Mount Fuji and other mountains, painted in bold colours such as red. Biography Tamako Kataoka was born in Sapporo, Japan in 19 ...

designed one of the curtains called "Flowers at Mount Fuji" (富士に献花), which was sponsored by

Matsuzakaya ( TYO: 8235, delisted) is a major Japanese department store chain operated by Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores, a subsidiary of J. Front Retailing. When the chain was an independent company, , it had its headquarters in Naka-ku, Nagoya. ...

. Downstairs there are a number of restaurants open for customers during the break. The last performance was given in March 2013 following the ''

shūmei ''Shūmei'' (, "name succession") are grand naming ceremonies held in kabuki theatre. Most often, a number of actors will participate in a single ceremony, taking on new stage-names. These stagenames, most often those of the actor's father, gran ...

'' name-taking ceremony (襲名) of Ichikawa En'ō II, Ichikawa Ennosuke IV and Ichikawa Chūsha IX. The building was rebuilt and opened again in 2018. Performances were held at the

Chunichi Theatre was a venue for the performing arts in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It closed on March 25, 2018. The theatre was located inside the Chunichi Building. Performances such as kabuki and musicals were shown there. See also * Aichi Arts Cent ...

during the interim. The new building is decorated on the outside with white metal stripes that evoke the traditional ''namako'' wall pattern, which was the hallmark of the entrance of the previous Misono-za building. The design comes from the office of the renowned architect

Kuma Kengo is a Japanese architect and professor in the Department of Architecture (Graduate School of Engineering) at the University of Tokyo. Frequently compared to contemporaries Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima, Kuma is also noted for his prolific writing ...

References

External links

Homepage of Misono-za
Buildings and structures in Japan destroyed during World War II Kabuki theatres Theatres in Nagoya Sakae, Nagoya Kengo Kuma buildings {{Japan-theat-struct-stub