Kanjincho, a central piece in the Kabuki Repertoire, is one of the “Great 18 Plays” and dates back to 1840. Based on the Noh play, Ataka, Kanjincho recounts General Yoshitsune’s narrow escape from capture through the guileful intrigue of his loyal retainer Benkei.

First staged in 1925, this is an updated version by noted contemporary director Noda Hideki. A comic drama, inspired by a real life event of 1827, this piece takes the age-old theme of samurai honor and revenge, presenting it in a refreshingly modern light with touches of irony.

Volume Three
KUMAGAI JINYA: KUMAGAI’S BATTLE CAMP
Featuring MATSUMOTO Koshiro IX, NAKAMURA Jakuemon IV, ICHIKAWA Somegoro VII
86 minutes, 2002

One of the classics of the jidaimono or historical plays, this famous act chronicles a dramatic incident during the Battle of Ichinotani, during the long war between Genji and the Heike Clans.

General Kumagai is, like many Kabuki tragic heros, a victim of the medieval Japanese code of honor. Confronted with the prospect of having to kill the Emperor’s son, he beheads his own son instead. Released from further duty, he spends his last days as a wandering priest.

Volume Four
YOSHITSUNE SENBON ZAKURA: YOSHITSUNE & THE 1000 CHERRY TREES
(Three Scenes: Kawatsura Hôgen Yakata no Ba, Okuniwa no Ba, Zaôdôhanayagura no Ba)
Featuring ICHIKAWA Ennosuke III, BANDO Tamasburo V, ICHIKAWA Danshiro IV
99 minutes, 2000

The three scenes presented here are from the 4th and 5th act of Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura. Originally a Bunraku play, this is one of the most gorgeous and luxuriant works in the Kabuki repertoire. In the final scene, teamed with the great onnagata performer Tamasaburo, Ennosuke performs his signature piece as the enchanted fox.

Volume Five
KOCHIYAMA: THE ROBBER KOCHIYAMA
Featuring NAKAMURA Kichiemon II, ICHIKAWA Sadanji IV
90 minutes, 1999

This play is a late masterpiece by KAWATAKE Mokuami, perhaps the last of the great traditional Kabuki playwrights. The main character, Kochiyama, is a notorious gambler and extortionist masquerading as a Buddhist Priest. NAKAMURA Kichiemon plays the lead role, which was also a specialty of his grandfather.

Volume Six
SHIRANAMI GONIN OTOKO: THE FIVE BANDITS
Featuring ONOE Kikugoro VII and ICHIKAWA Sadanji IV
102 minutes, 2000

The story of the notorious bandit Benten Kozô and his cohorts, a sinister and menacing group who live outside the law but who nevertheless abide by their own code of honour. ONOE Kikugoro, skillful at both male and female roles, plays both the samurai’s daughter and the villain Benten Kozô.

Volume Seven
FUINKIRI- BREAKING THE SEAL
Featuring NAKAMURA Ganjirô III, NAKAMURA Senjaku III, NAKAMURA Tomijûrô V
83 minutes, 1999

Fuinkiri is the central act of the great Chikamatsu drama, MEIDO NO HIKYAKU (THE COURIER FOR HELL). NAKAMURA Ganjirô plays the courier Chubei who, tormented by love for the courtesan Umegawa, cannot resist the temptation to break open a packet of money he is carrying for a customer. Once the seal is broken, all is lost and Chubei rushes to off to meet his lover.

Volume Eight
ISE ONDO KOI NO NETABA: THE ISE DANCES & LOVE’S DULL BLADE
Featuring KATAOKA Nizaemon XV, NAKAMURA Jakuemon IV, BANDO Tamasaburo V
109 minutes, 1995

Based on an actual multiple murder in the Aburaya Tea House, this play is one of the most popular in the Kabuki repertoire, combining action, intrigue and a spectacularly grotesque murder. This play is a staple of summer Kabuki performances in the belief that the audience will be cooled as they shiver with fear through the horrific killing scene.

The three great dances of Kabuki performed by some of the greatest onnagata performers.
FUJI MUSUME is a dance of unrequited love; the Wisteria Maiden recalls the promises of an unfaithful lover. YASUNA is a court astrologer who goes mad with grief after his betrothed
commits suicide when caught up in a court intrigue. SAGI MUSUME, is also a story of unrequited love. The heron is transformed as a maiden who remembers her tragically unfulfilled longings through dance.

Volume Ten
TERAKOYA: THE VILLAGE SCHOOL
Featuring MATSUMOTO Koshiro VIII, NAKAMURA Ganjirô II, NAKAMURA Shikan VII
89 minutes, 1975

The final act of Sugawara's Secrets of Calligraphy presents one of the great tragic moments in all Kabuki. Matsuomaru and his wife Chiyo sacrifice their own child so that the son of their Lord Michizane may live.

Volume Eleven
DATTAN – THE FIRE RITUAL
Featuring NAKAMURA Shoroku II
42 minutes, 1970

First performed in 1967, this dance piece is a recreation of the annual Shuni-e ritual that takes place at the great Todaiji Temple in Nara. This ritual was performed to prevent natural disasters, epidemics and rebellions and to ensure bountiful harvests and peace across the Nation.

NININ WANKYU – THE TWO WANKYUS
Featuring NAKAMURA Shoroku II, NAKAMURA Tomijuro V, NAKAMURA Jakuemon IV
37 minutes, 2000

One of the oldest dances in the Kabuki repertoire, Ninin Wankyû recounts the story of Wanya Kyûbei, the son of a rich merchant who fell in love with the courtesan Matsuyama. He squanders such huge amounts of money on his visits to the courtesan that his parents finally place him under house arrest. Kyûbei escapes and wanders the streets penniless, eventually drowning in the Aji River.

Volume Twelve
SUMIDAGAWA: SUMIDA RIVER
Featuring NAKAMURA Utaemon VI, NAKAMURA Kanzaburo XVII
46 minutes, 1986

A widow discovers that her only son has gone missing from his temple school. While searching for her lost child, she encounters a boatman on the Sumida River who leads her to his grave. Learning of her son's death, the woman madly chases after his ghost, then collapses on his grave, vowing to spend the rest of her life in prayer.

HANABUSA SHUJAKU JISHI: SHUJAKU LION DANCE
Featuring NAKAMURA Jakuemon IV
31 minutes, 2001

A dance piece derived from the Noh play Shakkyo, Shûjaku Jishi shows a courtesan performing a classic lion dance. The lion invades her spirit and she starts to dance in a frenzy to free herself. Like all lion dances in Kabuki, this piece is a great test of the dancing skills of the onnagata (female role player) performer.

Volume Thirteen
JUSSHUKO: TEN TYPES OF INCENSE
Featuring NAKAMURA Utaemon VI, ONOE Baiko VII, NAKAMURA Shikan VII, KATAOKA Nizaemon XIII
57 minutes, 1983

This piece is one of the great examples of Kabuki plays adapted from the Bunraku Puppet Theatre. The role of Princess Yaêgaki, here played by Utaemon, is one of the most difficult princess roles in the repertoire. Set in the 16th century, Jusshuko depicts a power struggle between two warlords feuding over a sacred helmet.

KENREIMONIN
Featuring NAKAMURA Utaemon VI, SHIMADA Shogo
57 minutes, 1995

Drawn from The Tale of the Heike, this plays recounts the dramatic and tragic life of Taira no Tokuko who took the name of Kenreimonin. In this act, Kenreimonin renounces the world in order to become a Buddhist nun. She spends the remainder of her life praying for the souls of her dead Heike clansmen.

Volume Fourteen
YAMATO TAKERU; SUPER KABUKI
Featuring ICHIKAWA Ennosuke III, ICHIKAWA Danshiro IV, ICHIKAWA Emiya II
180 minutes, 1995

Yamato Takeru is the legend of the second century warrior hero who conquered the southern islands, expanding the territory of Japan for the Imperial Government.

During the 1990's Ichikawa Ennosuke III, one of the Kabuki world's biggest stars, mounted a series of modernized Kabuki works calling them Super Kabuki. Yamato Takeru was the first and most famous.

Volume Fifteen
IPPON GATANA DOHYO IRI: THE WRESTLING RING AND THE SWORD
Featuring NAKAMURA Utaemon VI, NAKAMURA Kanzaburo XVII
94 minutes, 1983

A play from the 1930's featuring characters from the underworld; gangsters, petty thieves and prostitutes. The wrestler Mobei, finding himself penniless, is helped by the waitress Otsuta. Years later he re-visits her tea house and is able to repay her kindness.

Volume Sixteen
KANJINCHO: THE SUBSCRIPTION LIST
Featuring ONOE Kikugoro VI, MATSUMOTO Koshiro VII, ICHIMURA Uzaemon XV
77 minutes, 1943, Black & White

This early film version of Kanjincho features many of the legendary Kabuki performers of the mid-twentieth century, especially Kikugoro VI, considered one of the greatest actors in Kabuki history.

Kanjincho, a signature piece in the Kabuki Repertoire, is one of the "Great 18 Plays" and dates back to 1840. Based on the Noh play, Ataka, Kanjincho recounts General Yoshitsune's narrow escape from assassination with the help of his loyal retainer Benkei.

THE TREASURY OF THE LOYAL 47 RETAINERS (Tale of the 47 Ronin)

This four volume set (5 DVDs) covers the most important scenes of one of the greatest works in all Japanese theater. Based on a true story of revenge more widely known as the "Tale of the 47 Ronin", this story has been adapted in countless films, including Kenji Mizoguchi's, Genroku Chushingura, 1941.

Prologue
Act 3 At the Gate of the Ashikaga Mansion and Bloodshed in the Pine Room
Act 4 Hangan's Harakiri, and Surrendering the Mansion

Michiyuki Scene of Okaru and Kampei
Act 5 The Yamazaki Highway & The Two Bullets
Act 6 The Suicide of Kanpei

Act 7 The Ichiriki Teahouse in Gion, Kyoto

Act 9 Seclusion in Yamashina
Act 11 The Attack on Morono's Mansion

One of the great entertainments of Kabuki, Sukeroku tells the story of the handsome and dashing Sukeroku and his lover, Agemaki. One of The Eighteen Favorite Plays (Juhachiban) of the Ichikawa family of actors. First performed in 1713.

A dance work based on the Noh play Adachigahara shows Ennosuke at his best playing the part of the old woman Iwate, a demon in disguise. First performed in 1939 by Ennosuke's grandfather Eno.