A rare performance of a historical play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon. The warlord Nagao Terutora wants the services of the great strategist Yamamoto Kansuke who is now working for his rival Takeda Shingen. The wife of one of Terutora's retainers is Kansuke's sister and so Terutora invites Kansuke's wife and mother to see her. When the two women arrive, Terutora brings the food tray himself. Knowing what he has in mind, the old woman Koshiji kicks it. The furious Terutora wants to kill them all, but is restrained by Kansuke's wife, Okatsu, who desperately defends her mother, despite the fact that she cannot speak and must express herself through koto music instead.
‘KAOMISE’ (‘face-showing’) originally referred to the month in which a theatre showed the actors who were newly contracted for the following year to the audience. The annual ‘KAOMISE’ performances in Kyoto, the birthplace of Kabuki, have continued their long tradition since the Edo period (1603-1868).
Today it is an all-star performance and a big event for December in Kyoto.
Decorating the theatre façade every December are signboards bearing the actors’ names, a sight that has come to be associated with the winter season in Kyoto.
You can enjoy four fascinating masterpieces of Kabuki in both the matinee and evening shows.