An Unexpected Kabuki Experience

My husband and I in the heart of Ginza is indeed a rare occurrence. Given that upon hearing the word Ginza, expensive is the next word that follows, it is not shocking that we don’t frequent this area.

However, if you have a 10,000 yen lunch coupon that you won from last year’s Christmas party that is about to expire, then it is best to just go.

And so we went on a beautiful, sunny Wednesday. But things didn’t go as we planned because we had to make a reservation which we did but had to reschedule it because we got sick a week ago. And probably that was where we made an error and ended up rescheduling the visit to the week after.

Now here we are, expecting to have a nice lunch in Ginza. Instead, we ended up not knowing what to do.

My husband is good at making plans when plans get out of hand. Meanwhile, I had to get myself together for half an hour to function. It’s either we go home or just make the most out of the day by looking for something else. Then I realized my husband had not been to Tsukiji before and even though I have been, it has been years since I went so I thought we could just go there and have sushi for lunch instead, so off we went.

But before that, there was one thing I wanted us both to experience which was not on the list of things we planned to do and that was to watch a Kabuki performance.

I have watched a single act before but it was ages ago. I thought it would be a good opportunity for my husband to experience it as well. So before we went to Tsukiji, I checked the list of performances for the day and found a single-act performance that starts at 17:45 and costs 900 yen! Granting it was a 20-minute performance, it was all we needed just to see if we would want to commit to watching full performances in the future.

As you can see in this photo below, you can buy tickets from the ticket counter in front of Kabukiza Ginza Theater for 900 yen in cash but mind you, that would be for non-reserved seats.

Getting reserved seats

I have always been anxious about not getting a seat and we were hungry so I decided to buy the tickets online which was convenient since there was English support. On the downside, I had to pay an additional 110 yen per ticket for the booking procedure. I don’t regret it though because I was able to enjoy lunch and a cup of coffee after.

So it was time for the performance so 30 minutes before it started, we went back to the theater but got confused as to where to enter and reach the 4th floor.

For those who would like to go, make sure you go back to the front of the theater and the staff will guide you to an entrance that will lead you to an elevator that will take you straight to the 4th floor.

If you booked online, you will be given QR codes and all you have to do is to have it scanned before going to your seats.

Taking photos during the performance is not allowed and staff will be showing a board with all the things that you are not allowed to do but I was able to take a photo of the stage before the show started so I guessed this photo is allowed.

Understanding the story

As I mentioned above, I visited this theater years ago but one thing I knew from this experience is that it is hard to go and not understand the premise of the story that I watched.

All I knew is that there is an audio guide (which is not free by the way), that you can get to understand the story, and if I am not mistaken the cost ranges from 900-1,300 yen. Now it is likely that this guide might not be available for single acts.

This did not deter me from looking for a synopsis of the show I am going to watch that is written in English. And yes, you can leaflets near the ticket counter and find one that explains the story behind the performances of that day. This means you can have a glimpse of what you are going to watch, for free!

The performance

So we watched the story of a sake peddler and two sake-living spirits known as “Shojo” and it didn’t disappoint. Despite only understanding only a word from the show, the singing, the accompaniment, and the dances did not disappoint. My husband and I were both engrossed in the performance. I was hoping it was longer but that was such a delightful experience that I hope you can all try out.

Due to this experience, I am now on the hunt for other traditional Japanese performances such as Noh, Kyogen, and even Bunraku!