Kagurazaka Street Stage O-edo Tour 2017 will provide a large trans-generational audience with an accessible introduction to Japan’s diverse forms of traditional performing arts. As a festival connecting neighborhood and community, the event will also bring many people including overseas visitors into contact with Kagurazaka’s charms. It is set to be an enjoyable event for everyone, from those unfamiliar with traditional performing arts to the younger generation and foreigners.
One of the charms of Kagurazaka is its night-time scene, the birthplace of many strands in a rich and complex culture. On festival Eve you can enjoy a stroll down the backstreets, their cobblestones and black wooden walls and fences even more alluring at night, and get a taste of traditional performing arts in the neighborhood’s stylish restaurants. Visitors will get to see an enchanting side to Kagurazaka which can only be experienced at night.
*For details of the Main Festival please click here.
Performers of Japanese classical arts with connections to Kagurazaka will give mini live performances at stylish restaurants, cafes and live music clubs around the neighborhood.
Visitors can enjoy Kagurazaka’s night-time scene, the birthplace of numerous strands in a rich and complex culture, and immerse themselves in the atmosphere of its restaurants while they relish live performances and sophisticated conversation.
Date/Time
Saturday, November 11, 16:00 — 19:40 *Rain or shine
Venues and performances
[Rito Kitchen] 16:00 — 16:40
Riei Kanda (“Kodan” storytelling), Tsuruga Wakasanojo Shamisen Troupe (Tsuruga Isekichi and others / “Shinnai-Bushi” music)
[Enkaen] 16:00 — 16:45
Cyril Coppini (“Rakugo” storytelling) with Hiyama Umekichi ( “Zokkyoku” music)
[THEGLEE]
Wakajishikai (Japanese percussions) 17:00 — 17:40
Toyotokuhana Kasuga (Kouta music) 19:00 — 19:40
[Kagurazaka Monogatari] 19:00 — 19:40
Okamura Shintaro (“Jiuta” music and “Sou” Japanese harp)
Admission
Free (excluding food and drink)
*Admission tickets will be distributed at each venue one hour before each event starts.
Kagurazaka is renowned for its atmospheric back alleys and side streets, with their cobblestones and black wooden walls and fences. If you take a walk around them, as if by chance you’ll come across a roving musical performance. The stylish-looking strolling performers from the troupe of shinnai-bushi Living National Treasure and Kagurazaka resident Wakasanojo Tsuruga will be performing their traditional shinnai-nagashi shamisen music around the streets of Kagurazaka again this year. Likewise, the immensely-popular iori-uta music of the Hikiyama Matsuri festival from the Johana area of Nanto City in Toyama Prefecture will be performed again this year by a young troupe parading through Kagurazaka’s streets. Iori-uta music, which is unique to the Johana area of Nanto, is derived from Edo hauta music. It has been passed down through the Hikiyama Matsuri festival, which boasts 300 years of tradition. As the musicians become one with the old-world look of the streets, the atmosphere of old Edo is brought back to life for a while.
[Shinnai-nagashi]
Date/Time
Saturday, November 11, around 16:30 — 17:30, around 18:30 — 19:30
Venue
On the streets in Kagurazaka (starting from Jinai Park)
Admission
Free
Performers
Tsuruga Wakasanojo Shamisen troupe (Tsuruga Isekichi and others)
[Johana Hikiyama Festival “Iori-uta”]
Date/Time
Saturday, November 11, around 15:00 — 16:00, around 17:30 — 18:30
Venue
On the streets in Kagurazaka (Starting from Bishamonten Zenkoku-ji Temple)
Admission
Free
Performers
Houtetsu Kai (Johana folk performing art of Nanjo City, Toyama Prefecture)
*Programs are subject to change.
Kagurazaka Street Stage / O-edo Tour 2017 Office (inside Koten Kukan Office)
TEL: 03-5478-8265
Saturday, November 11 2017, 15:00 – 19:40
*The event will be cancelled in case of bad weather (except for light rain).
