was one of the three main ''

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 ...

'' theatres of Edo 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 ...

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

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

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''.''Japan Quarterly'', 1969, p. 302 (Asahi Shinbunsha) Typically the zamoto ...

. 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, Tokyo, Sumida-Ku, Tokyo in the Ryōgoku, Ryogoku district. The museum opened in March 1993 to preserve Edo's cultural heritage, and features city models of Edo and Tokyo between 1 ...

References

External links

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