The Story in Three Lines
Kabuki loses nothing when you know the story in advance. Start with just three lines.
- 01
Guan Yu, the great hero of the Chinese classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, strides onto the kabuki stage—a rare aragoto piece built around a foreign hero.
- 02
Danjūrō II is said to have played the role in aragoto style from 1737, but the original's details have not survived.
- 03
Long absent from the stage after its early performances, the play has been revived several times since the Meiji era.
Three Things to Watch For
These three points are all the preparation you need. On the day, simply give yourself to the stage.
A hero from across the sea
The warrior hero of a Chinese classic beloved in Edo, rendered through Japanese aragoto—two heroic traditions superimposed.
The look of majesty
The long-bearded colossus was a favourite of woodblock artists; his monumental dignity is itself the spectacle.
Among the rarest of the eighteen
With no fixed text it is rarely staged; a notable revival took place at the National Theatre in 1985.
Characters
- Guan Yu (Kan'u)
- The mighty general who served Liu Bei of Shu, revered across East Asia for his valor and unswerving loyalty.
Stagecraft and Highlights
Danjūrō II is said to have performed the role from 1737, though little is known for certain. Long unstaged through the Edo period and lacking a fixed script, the play survived within the eighteen chiefly as a name and a remembered style.
Revivals followed from the Meiji era onward, most notably a new staging at the National Theatre in 1985. Several of the eighteen feature the Heike warrior Kagekiyo, and Kan'u is counted within that lineage.
The Ichikawa Connection
One of the Kabuki Jūhachiban, associated with Danjūrō II—proof of how far the family's aragoto reached, even to the heroes of another land.
Related terms
Sources
- Author
- KABUKI Universe Editorial Team
- Supervision
- Ichikawa Danjūrō
- Published
- Aug 15, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 9, 2026
Supervision means Ichikawa Danjūrō has reviewed this page's intent and key points. The text is the editorial team's writing, not Ichikawa Danjūrō's own statements. Editorial responsibility rests with the team, which corrects any error. Read the editorial policy