A One-Of-A-Kind Show, A local collaboration of Asakusa Theatre
April 10th to 12th, the Asakusa Shinohara Mokubakan held its first ever special collaboration event in partnership with local dance theatre, Kaguwa Cabaret, together with travelling Taishu Engeki group Gekidan Mimatsu. This partnership event was an effort to highlight and raise awareness of Asakusa performance culture in a unique way to both local Japanese guests and international visitors.
The Kaguwa Cabaret group are masters of fast-paced, loud, and energetic performances, whereas the Gekidan Mimatsu group are masters of theatrical performance art. This unique pairing created a captivating show of 11 unique performances in 1 evening, with high-effort acrobatic and dance choreography but also told stories using body movement and facial expressions, resulting in both cheers and tears from the audience.
The show began with the chairman of Gekidan Mimatsu, Koyuji Matsukawa-san, performing with his Shimasen (traditional Japanese instrument similar to a guitar), in combination with Kaguwa’s Shingo-san, on the Japanese drums. The show started slow and exploded into a big dance performance featuring multiple performers.
Throughout the show, various traditional Japanese performance accessories were used – shimasen, drums, katanas, sensu fans, wagasa (Japanese umbrella), several different styles of kimono, and much more. Choreographed katana fights, modern dance numbers using popular Japanese music, as well as Japanese storytelling of shishi-gatsura (lion’s mane wigs) and keburi (hair dance), allowed visitors of all backgrounds to enjoy the performance.
The shishi-gatsura is an accessory used to tell the tale of the two lions, a father and sun lion, named Shiranbu. The two performers swing their hair around in a circular motion to drive away evil spirits, and bless the audience.
One of the highlights of the show was the story of “Giki 義鬼” translating to “The Righteous Demon”, a tragic Taishu-Engeki story. This tells the tale of two samurai students, whos relationship is tested after one of the men is turned into a demon, losing control and fighting his friend. During the final fight, he regains his consciousness and chooses to sacrifice himself to protect his friend, as he can no longer trust himself.
This performance featured many performers, but the two stars of this story were Shinya Fujikawa of Gekidan Mimatsu, and Kazushi-san of Kaguwa.
There was 2
performances using recent, popular Japanese anime theme songs: (1) Iris Out, from
the 2025 Chainsaw Man movie, and (2) SPECIALZ, from Season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen,
Shibuya Arc. The performance to Iris Out was a highly choreographed dance performed
primarily by the women of Kaguwa, and the SPECIALZ performance was by the men
of Gekidan Mimatsu, using a large Japanese twirling-pole
(Bou 棒) and sensu fans.
This event was a success with great reviews, and it was a unique experience to work with two different performing groups to coordinate this special weekend. We hope you can visit both the Shinohara Mokubakan, and the Kaguwa Cabaret Theatre, and we look forward to welcoming you to our next collaboration event. Stay tuned.
