Where to begin,without wondering.

If you are going to see kabuki

5 steps · about 15 min

Five things to know before you go

You can enjoy kabuki with no preparation at all. But these five will let you read what is happening on stage. About fifteen minutes in all.

1. 01What kabuki actually is
2. 02The shape of the theatre
3. 03The mie — why the actor stops
4. 04Kumadori — reading the face
5. 05Tickets, and the day itself

If you want to understand the name

5 steps · about 20 min

Who Danjūrō is, in five steps

Not one actor's name but a lineage of three and a half centuries. What has been handed down, step by step. About twenty minutes.

1. 01What the Ichikawa Sōke is
2. 02Aragoto — the family art
3. 03The Kabuki Jūhachiban
4. 04Thirteen generations, thirteen ages
5. 05Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII

If you are seeing Kanjinchō

5 steps · about 12 min

Five ways into Kanjinchō

The most frequently staged of the eighteen. You need not know the whole plot: three moments are enough. About twelve minutes.

1. 01Kanjinchō for absolute beginners
2. 02The play itself
3. 03Roppō — how Benkei leaves
4. 04Ōmukō — the calls from the gallery
5. 05Seeing it at the Minamiza