June Kabuki Performances Open at Hakata-za and Kabuki-za Theaters in Japan

Two major kabuki theater events have opened in Japan this June. At Hakata-za, the grand naming ceremony performances (shūmei hirō) for the eighth-generation Onoe Kikugorō and Onoe Kikunosuke are culminating with the June Hakata Grand Kabuki run. Meanwhile, at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo, the June Grand Kabuki program features Nakamura Shidō's new contemporary take on Kozure Ōkami (Lone Wolf and Cub) alongside the classic Chigiri no Tsuki Nazuna no Shiranami.