Eirakukan Kabuki Theater

Built in 1901, Eirakukan is the oldest Kabuki theater in the Kansai region.

After being closed in 1964, Eirakukan was restored and reopened to the public in 2008. Various performances such as grand Kabuki, Kyogen, and Rakugo are performed even today since its restoration.

With its reopening, guests can tour the theater.

Visitors are taken behind the scenes on a guided tour, where they can see the main runway, the original production signs, below the stage, and into the dressing rooms.

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Stage

The main area of Eirakukan.

Look out from the stage out onto the house seating for an exhilarating view.

The side stage is called the Hanamichi (flower road).

The Hanamichi was named after the Kabuki actors who looked beautiful like flowers in their exquisite Kabuki clothes.

Name plates of Kabuki actors

The names of featured Kabuki actors are written on these wooden plates.

They compliment the theater’s old-fashioned style.

Paper lanterns

A nostalgic light shines from behind the logo mark of Eirakukan’s lanterns.

Kabuki drawings

The synopsis of Kabuki plays were illustrated in these drawings, but today posters are used instead.

Above the Mawari-Butai

The rotating floor of a Kabuki stage is called a “mawari-butai.”

This is used to change the play’s setting.

Below the Mawari-Butai

In order lo be able to change Kabuki scenes quickly, the stage can be rotated manually from below with a contraption that reaches 6.6m in diameter.

Incidentally, the Japanese word for underneath the Kabuki stage is “Naraku” which can also mean “Hell.”

Hanamichi

Literally translated to “flower path.”

This is a walkway that projects out through the audience from the back of Eirakukan to the stage.

The hanamichi is used the Kabuki actors to make dramatic entrances and exits.

Yudono

An old bath found in the back of the theater heated by a fire.

Kabuki actors would use this place to wash off their make-up and take a bath.

In the corner of the room, the pump used for water still remains.