Kabuki-za Theatre

Kabuki-za is the principal theatre for kabuki, the stylised drama of elaborate costumes, white make-up, exaggerated poses and live music that took shape in the Edo period. A theatre has stood on this site in Ginza since 1889. The present building, designed by Kengo Kuma, reopened in 2013 and keeps a traditional curved facade with a modern office tower rising behind it. A new programme is staged most months of the year, usually with a matinee and an evening performance each day.

A full programme consists of several separate plays or dances and lasts around four hours including intervals, during which audiences buy bento boxes and snacks to eat in their seats. The repertoire mixes history plays about samurai and nobles, domestic dramas about townspeople, and dance pieces, with all roles played by men, including the female characters performed by onnagata specialists. Shouts from aficionados in the audience calling out the actors' stage names at key moments are part of the tradition.

First-timers do not need to commit to a whole programme. Single-act seats on the fourth level are sold for individual acts, typically lasting one to two hours, and they are a good way to sample kabuki at a modest cost; they remain on sale on the day even when reserved seats have sold out, though popular months fill up. Reserved tickets for the full programme are sold in advance online. Rentable subtitle guides in English make the plots much easier to follow, and the printed programme includes an English synopsis.

Kabuki-za suits anyone with an interest in Japanese culture, and even people unsure about theatre often find the spectacle, music and costumes absorbing. Older children can manage a single act. There is no dress code, though many Japanese theatregoers dress smartly and some wear kimono. Arrive early to visit the rooftop garden, which is open to the public, and the Kabuki-za Gallery on the fifth floor, which displays costumes and props.

The theatre stands on Harumi-dori in the heart of Ginza, with a direct underground connection to Higashi-ginza Station on the Hibiya and Toei Asakusa lines. Ginza's department stores and restaurants are around it, and the Tsukiji Outer Market is about ten minutes' walk away.