Kabukiza Theatre
歌舞伎座 かぶきざ
Kabuki every day of the month, and a single act for the price of a coffee.
EssentialHigh-end · Rainy day · History · Art
The grand kabuki theatre of Japan, rebuilt in 2013 behind its 1920s Momoyama-style façade with an office tower rising discreetly behind. Two programmes a day, most days of the month, of the classical repertoire: samurai vendettas, ghost stories, dance pieces with the whole company on stage. You do not need Japanese — an English earphone guide narrates the plot as it happens — and you do not need a whole afternoon: the fourth-floor single-act seats (makumi) let you see one act of forty minutes to an hour.
Don't miss
- The hanamichi walkway through the audience — sit on the left side of the stalls to be next to it
- The bento sold in the lobby, eaten at your seat in the interval, is part of the ritual
- The basement Kobikicho Square shops for kabuki-themed gifts without a ticket
- Tip
- Single-act tickets are sold on the day and online; the best English introduction is the earphone guide, rented at the entrance.
- Best time
- Any month; the evening programme lets you walk Ginza after.
- Allow
- 90 min
- Station
- Higashi-Ginza (Hibiya / Asakusa lines), direct from the basement
- Official site — hours, prices, closures
- www.kabuki-bito.jp · Map
Appears in
In this area: Ginza
Chuo-dori and the Sunday promenade中央通りと歩行者天国
A kilometre of flagships that closes to cars on weekend afternoons.
60 min · Ginza (Ginza / Marunouchi / Hibiya lines)
Ginza SixGINZA SIX
A department store with a Noh theatre in the basement and an art installation in the atrium.
60 min · Ginza (Ginza / Marunouchi / Hibiya lines)
Ginza Itoya銀座伊東屋
Twelve floors of paper and pens, since 1904, with a vegetable farm on the top.
45 min · Ginza (Ginza / Marunouchi / Hibiya lines)