By Cathy Hirano

Takamatsu is just an hour away by car or train to Japan's oldest Kabuki theater, Kanamaruza, in Kotohira town. The theater was built 170 years ago and is open for public viewing.


Kanamaruza

Better yet, it is still used for Kabuki. For 2 weeks every April, top Kabuki actors in Japan converge on Kotohira town to perform before capacity audiences.





That's where I went last weekend and it was fabulous. No photos are allowed during the performance, of course, so you'll have to make do with what I could get.


Watch your head when you enter

Volunteers are key to the annual event's success. About 20 volunteers manage all the stage effects, which are done without machines or electricity, just as they were in the Edo period. One team manually turns the revolving stage from underneath and raises the lifts that pop actors out onto the stage above. Another team controls the natural lighting by opening and closing the shutters on the upper balconies.




Bamboo ceiling


Catwalk

Another volunteer team consists of 20 to 30 women called Ochakosan who usher the audience to their seats, sell programs, and clean the playhouse. Applicants for this position come from all over the country.




Selling programs

The actors clearly revel in the chance to return to the roots of their art by performing in this authentic Edo period theater.



During performances, they pass so close you can hear them breathing or feel their costumes brush the top of your head. This proximity encourages interaction between the actors and audience, creating a very intimate theater atmosphere. The audience becomes very intimate with each other, too, because they spend close to 3 hours jam-packed into square spaces designed for small 19th century Japanese.

Empty seats



Same seats with people in them.



Here's where I sat.



But there are chair-like steps in the back balcony.



Fortunately there are two long intermissions for the audience to return to the 21st century and rest their legs and rear ends.



Kompira Kabuki has become so popular that it's hard to get tickets. There was a period, however, when the theater's survival was threatened. When it was first built in 1835, Kabuki provided entertainment to the many pilgrims visiting nearby Kompira Shrine but with the rise of movies and then television in the twentieth century, the theater was abandoned. Thanks to the efforts of local citizens, it was restored in 1976. Then, in 1984, three visiting Kabuki actors fell in love with it and suggested reviving Kabuki performances. The first Shikoku Kompira Kabuki performance was held in 1986. The event proved so popular that it was lengthened from three days to two weeks. This year marked its 28th season. If you can afford the price and actually get a ticket, it's well worth going.







Access
Train: Catch the Kotoden train from Chikko station near the port or Kawaramachi station in central Takamatsu. Get off at Kotoden Kotohira Station. (About 1 hour; 610 yen one way; 1 every 30 min. or more).
Car: Take Route 32. About 1 hour. The souvenir shops offer “free” parking if you buy more than \1,000 worth of goods. Parking at JR Kotohira station is 200 yen for the first hour and 100 yen for every 30 min. thereafter. It’s a longer walk to the theatre.
Kompira Kabuki Ticket Information
Admission: A seat 13,000 yen←Masuseki: 5 people per tatami box (180cm x 124cm).
B seat 10,000 yen
C seat 7,000 yen
Tickets are sold by a lottery system from January 8th to February 6th and you must apply by reply-paid postcard. I have heard that it's easier to get tickets through travel agents but you should check several months in advance.
Inquiries: 0877-75-6714 Shikoku Kompira Kabuki Oshibai or 0877- 73-2111 Kotohira Town Office

Kompira Theater is also open for viewing at other times of year.
Admission: Adults 500 yen, Students: 300 yen, Children: 200 yen
Hours: 9:00-17:00 Tel: 0877-73-3846
  

I arrived in Japan in April 1978, in the height of cherry blossom season. I remember being taken aback by the boisterous crowds of people picnicking (and playing and singing and even dancing) under any cherry tree they could find.



Thirty-four years later I'm glad to see this ancient rite called "hanami" still persists. From mid-February on, the national news keeps viewers informed of when they can expect the cherries to blossom.


Stopping to smell the flowers

And when they do (usually in late March and early April), families, friends, students, blue and white collar workers, well, everybody and even their dogs, grab lunch or dinner and head out to their favorite park or tree-lined path.



There are many great "hanami" spots in Takamatsu, but probably the top draw is Ritsurin Garden. Not only does it have 350 cherry trees but it also has lots of room to spread out and picnic,



vendors selling food and drink,



musical performances and floodlights at night for yozakura viewing.





Picnicking is popular where I come from, too, but the communal nature of Japanese hanami, the way everybody is out there, literally in the thousands!, specifically to enjoy the cherry blossoms, feels quite different.

Part of it must be little Japanese touches like neat rows of shoes by picnic mats.



But perhaps it's also due to the custom's origins. In ancient times, Japanese people went out into the fields in the spring to 'eat with the gods' and welcome them back to the land after the barren winter. Leaving their houses empty for a day also cleansed their homes of any bad luck or impurity. The flower viewed in those days was the plum and, at first, only the aristocracy shared feasts of food and poetry under the blossoms. During the Edo period, however, commoners joined in and the custom has continued to this day.

Modern cherry blossom viewers still come prepared to stay and relax!









During this season, stores sell special hanami lunches and hanami sweets. In Ritsurin, I enjoyed sakura (cherry) cake and coffee in a little hideaway located in the Sanuki Folk Art Museum inside the east entrance. It's tucked away behind some other buildings.





The cherry blossom season is extremely short (1 to 2 weeks) so enjoy it if you're lucky enough to be here then.