MINAMI-ZA WITH FULL LEAVES NANA FLOWER

Today I finally can say "I can die happily now"... I went to see with Full Leaves Nana Flower the famous Kabuki act Kanadehon Chushingura at the Minami-za.

December is a very especial month in Kyoto as we're approaching NEW YEAR, which is probably the most important celebration in Japan, most of the traditional performance art celebrate the end of the New Year.

Kabuki, based in the historical MINAMI-ZA, (IMAGE) is not an exception, performing every year the famous Kanadehon Chushingura.
The event is particular distinctive because is watched each day by each Hanamachi's, (Geisha~town), Maiko and Geiko.

With the exception of the Hanamachi, Gion Kobu, all the other four Hanamachi's dance are based in Kabuki.
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KABUKI: It's a traditional Japanese form of theatre with roots tracing back to the Edo Period. It is recognised as one of Japan's three major classical theatres and has been named as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The birth place of Kabuki is just across the theatre on the banks of the Kamo river, where women in 1063 began to perform playing both men and women in comic playlets about ordinary life. During Edo-period (1603~1867), Kabuki became a common form of entertainment in the Yukio, red-light-district.

The shogunate was never partial to KABUKI and all the mischief it brought, particularly the variety of the social classes which mixed at KABUKI performances. Women’s KABUKI, called Onna-Kabuki, was banned in 1629 for being too erotic.

Following Onna-Kabuki, young boys performed in Wakashu-Kabuki, but since they too were eligible for prostitution, the shogun government soon banned Wakashu-Kabuki as well. KABUKI switched to today's adult male actors, called Yaro-Kabuki, in the mid-1600s, where male actors play both female and male characters.
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Kanadehon Chushingura: is an 11-act Bunraku puppet play composed in 1748. (Perhaps one of the most popular Japanese plays).

The KABUKI adaptation, in 11 acts, appeared shortly after the puppet play did in Osaka & Kyoto in Edo-period, (1603~1867), and because its complexity is consider an assignment for ambitious actors.

For those interested in the 11 acts please check the following link: Kanadehon Chushingura