Kabuki-za theater
Kabuki-za theater is the main theater of traditional Kabuki performance style in Tokyo, Japan. This theater, which is located in Chuo district and Ginera neighborhood, was built in 1889.
Kabuki-za was originally started by Meiji period journalist Fukuchi Gen’ichiro. Fukuchi wrote kabuki dramas starring Ichikawa Danjuro IX and others after Danjuro’s death in 1903 and Fukuchi retired from theater management.
The Kabuki-za Theater is currently operated by the Shochiku Company, which was established in 1914. The original Kabuki-za building was a wooden structure built in 1889 on the residential grounds of the Hosokawa kumamoto clan, or Matsudaira Izu clan, in Tokyo.
This building was destroyed in a fire on October 30, 1921. Its reconstruction began in 1922, using fireproof building materials. These materials maintained the traditional Japanese architectural style despite the fact that the materials and lighting equipment were western.
Also, this reconstruction was left unfinished due to the great Kanto earthquake of 1923, which led to another fire in the building. Once again, the Kabuki-za theater was destroyed during the bombing of the Allies in World War II. It was rebuilt again in 1950, keeping the style of the 1924 reconstruction, and until recently it was one of the prominent and traditional buildings of Tokyo.
The 1950 structure was demolished in the spring of 2010 and rebuilt in the next three years. The reasons mentioned for the destruction and reconstruction of the structure are: Concerns about the building’s inability to withstand earthquakes and some accessibility issues.
architecture
The architectural style of 1924 is the Japanese Baroque Revival style, which evokes the architectural details of Japanese castles as well as temples of the pre-Edo period. This style was preserved after the reconstruction after the war and after the reconstruction in 2013.
In the last renovation, four new curtains called dancho were made in the front part of the building. These curtains are made in the Japanese Nihong style by famous Japanese artists and create a reflection of different seasons.