~ Ainosuke Kataoka and Kanjuro Fujima appear on stage! ~ Nagasaki Stadium City Kabuki Dance Special Performance Press Conference Held

(Mon) May 26, 2025, the "Nagasaki Stadium City Kabuki Dance Special Performance Press Conference" was held for members of the press at "THE CLUB NAGASAKI" on the 14th floor of Stadium City Hotel Nagasaki. At the conference, kabuki actor Ainosuke Kataoka and choreographer and Japanese dancer Kanjuro Fujima appeared on stage to talk about the highlights of the performance and their enthusiasm.

■ Greetings from the organizer (Hideki Iwashita, President and CEO of Regional Creation Nagasaki Co., Ltd.)

Nagasaki Stadium City has been open for about half a year now. Up until now, Happiness Arena has hosted many events, mainly sports and music, but we have always wanted to host events related to Japanese culture and traditional performing arts.
Thanks to the tremendous cooperation of everyone involved, we are able to host a two-day special performance with a splendid line-up of performers.
There are not many opportunities to see traditional performing arts in Nagasaki, so I am very pleased that the event can be held at Nagasaki Stadium City.
We would be delighted if everyone, not just those who love Kabuki, but also those who have never experienced Kabuki in their lives, could come and experience this.
We want as many people as possible to enjoy the event, including children, so we are preparing to invite children from Nagasaki. We hope that many people will enjoy the Nagasaki Stadium City Kabuki Dance Special Performance.

■Special performance program explanation (from Kanjuro Fujima)

＜Program＞
Price tag attached to base of the tag
Soga Goro Tokimune Onoe Ukon
Kobayashi's Younger Sister Maizuru Nakamura Ichitaro
The gorgeous stage setting, with hanging plum branches against the backdrop of Mt. Fuji, and the contrasting roles of Goro (Onoue Ukon) as an aragoto actor and Maizuru (Nakamura Ichitaro) as a female actor, add to the beauty of the style. Soga Goro, who is targeting Kudo Suketsune as his father's enemy, tries to run off in his armor, but Maizuru stops him by placing her hand on the kusuri. They show the bravery of the aragoto actors as they pull on each other's kusuri, but then they start dancing lightly and with the line "Stop it, it won't stop...", the play changes from a powerful aragoto performance to a scene of people playing in the red-light district, which is a highlight. The performance then turns to a test of strength again, and the curtain falls with a pose reminiscent of a nishiki-e print. The play is entertaining with its stylish composition that incorporates the heroic aragoto performance and popular songs of the time.

Highlights: Soga Kyogen was popular in the Edo period, and is still performed as a celebratory piece, especially around New Year's. This piece is a common Kabuki production, in which Onoe Ukon, who plays Soga Goro, and Nakamura Ichitaro, who plays Maizuru, pull on the kusazuri of the armor. The contrast between stillness and movement is also a highlight, and you can enjoy the contrast between Ukon's powerful stillness and Ichitaro's movements as a female actor. Both actors are very much looking forward to it.

Spider's Thread and Azusa Bowstring
Page Kanmaru/Drummer Aihei/Zato Matsuichi/Courtesy Usugumo Tayu/Spider Spirit Ainosuke Kataoka
Sadamitsu Usui Ukon Onoe
Sakata Kintoki and Nakamura Tanenosuke
Minamoto no Yorimitsu Nakamura Ichitaro
The general of the Genji clan, Minamoto no Yorimitsu (Nakamura Ichitaro), was possessed by a spirit and lay down. His retainers, Usui Sadamitsu (Onoue Ukon) and Sakata Kintoki (Nakamura Tanenosuke), were on watch all night, but when sleepiness attacked them, a page called Kanmaru (Kataoka Ainosuke) appeared with tea. When the two tried to slash away his suspicious movements, he suddenly disappeared. After that, the drummers Aihei and Zatō Matsuichi (both Kataoka Ainosuke) appeared, but when they tried to capture him, he disappeared. The two speculated that it might be the work of the Tsuchigumo of Mount Katsuragi. Furthermore, the courtesan Usugumo Tayu (Kataoka Ainosuke) visited Yorimitsu's bedroom, but suddenly revealed her true nature and tried to attack Yorimitsu. Yorimitsu then chased the spider spirit that had driven away the might of the precious sword Kumokirimaru, and headed to its home...
"Kumoishi Azusa-gen" is a work based on the ancient tale of Minamoto no Yorimitsu's defeat of the Tsuchigumo, and was first performed at Edo Ichimuraza in 1965. It is a highly popular dance that features five different roles with quick costume changes.

Highlights: This is a dance of transformation in which one performer changes appearance one after another, making it a particularly spectacular piece. There are various ways to perform this piece, but I created it in consultation with Ainosuke during the performance at Eirakukan (November 2009), and since then, it has been performed at theaters of different sizes and structures, such as the Kaomise Theater in Nagoya, the Kabukiza Theater, and the Minamiza Theater in Kyoto. This will be the first time we perform it in an "arena," and I am looking forward to it being a truly "special performance" that can only be seen here.

■Highlights of the performance (from Ainosuke Kataoka)

I am very excited as this will be my first time performing kabuki in Nagasaki. I just arrived in Nagasaki after the final performance in Osaka yesterday, and when I saw Nagasaki Stadium City and saw the magnificent stadium before my eyes, I thought, "This is the one I saw on TV!" and I was excited.
In "Kumoishi Azusageru," I take on five roles in rapid succession: a page, a drummer, a theater leader, a courtesan, and a spider spirit. Although I play a variety of roles, they are all actually spiders in disguise, so I hope you won't miss the occasional glimpse of the spider's evil face. Some people say that dance is difficult because they are not familiar with it, but that is not the case at all. If you listen carefully to what the Nagauta and Tokiwazu performers are singing, you will find that the choreography expresses the same meaning as the content, and the story is not complicated, so even beginners can understand and enjoy it. By the way, I appear without makeup in the opening "greetings."
It's a two-day performance, but I'd like to create a "special" performance together with you that can only be seen at Nagasaki Stadium City. I also performed in Kabuki as a child actor, and I've loved Kabuki ever since I first saw it when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I hope you'll come and see it with your children. I'm sure you'll have a great time. I hope that the local people will come and see it, and that it will be the first step in helping the traditional culture of Kabuki take root in Nagasaki.

■After the press conference, a courtesy call was also made
After the press conference, the Prime Minister paid a courtesy visit to Nagasaki Prefecture Governor Oishi and Nagasaki City Mayor Suzuki.