The fifth-generation Kabukiza Theatre, with over 125 years of history, marked the first anniversary on April 2 since its reopening after reconstruction. The theater complex, GINZA KABUKIZA, includes an adjacent office building called Kabukiza Tower.

With Tokyo hosting the summer Olympic Games in 2020, the capital city of Japan will attract much more global attention. For people visiting Tokyo, GINZA KABUKIZA will be an ideal venue to experience Japanese culture, since it was established as a hub to convey Japanese traditional culture including intangible cultural heritage Kabuki and Japanese cuisine and products with high craftsmanship.

Kabuki, the traditional art of Japan with over 410 years of history, is a renowned traditional form of Japanese theater with increasing popularity. Throughout the first year after the reconstruction, the theater was nearly or completely sold out during the shows and a total number of visitors reached over 1.3 million. Kabukiza Theatre, operated by Shochiku Co., is one of the best venues to experience live entertainment in Tokyo.

For the audience from overseas, we provide an English interpretation service for dialogues, lyrics, explanations about stories, music, dance, and properties and other aspects of Kabuki during performances. Also reasonably priced tickets for a single act called "Hitomaku-mi" are available at prices ranging from around 1,000 yen to 2,000 yen. Other facilities at GINZA KABUKIZA such as the Japanese style garden on the rooftop, Kabukiza Gallery and the underground Kobikicho square with souvenir shops have been crowded with visitors from around the world.

At Kabukiza Gallery, the early part of the exhibition of "Journey of Grand Kabuki Overseas" is starting from April 2 to August 24, 2014. The one-year exhibition will display 86 years of overseas performances of Kabuki, mainly through valuable archives of the Shochiku Ohtani Library. The gallery is accessible without Kabuki tickets if you purchase the ticket for around 600 yen. In addition to the long history of performances overseas, Kabuki will be presented at the Lincoln Center Festival in July 2014, providing a special opportunity for an international audience to experience the splendors of Kabuki outside of Japan.

Official English site: http://www.shochiku.com

Ticket: http://www.kabuki-bito.jp/eng/top.html

About Shochiku Co., Ltd.

Founded in 1895, it is based in Chuo-ku, Tokyo.

Its President/CEO is Jay Sakomoto.

Source: Shochiku Co., Ltd.