Celebrating 130 years of Kabuki in Hawai’i and a Centennial of English Language Kabuki

UHM Theatre Guild’s “The Faithful” (1932), source Ka Palapala, 1932.
Kenji Goto as Lord Kurano in "The Faithful," Ka Palapala, 1932.
Kenji Goto as Lord Kurano in “The Faithful,” Ka Palapala, 1932.

The enduring theatrical art of kabuki has adapted and transformed numerous times over its more than 400-year history, and its life over the past 130 years in Hawai‘i, too, has been one of change and endurance. 

Japanese migration to the Hawaiian Islands coincided with a peak in access to and popularity of kabuki in Japan, so it is no surprise that kabuki became an important source of entertainment in Hawaiʻi, as well as an important cultural connection to the motherland. Japanese immigrants formed local professional troupes, performing in rented theatres as well as on temporary stages erected in empty sugar cane fields. They adopted stage names like Ichikawa, Nakamura, and Kataoka, echoing the most famous acting families on the professional kabuki stage in Japan, and trained children in kabuki dance from a young age.  

English-language kabuki was born in 1924 when a group of nisei students performed The Faithful, a play by John Masefield based on the kabuki classic Kanadehon Chūshingura. The University Theatre Guild continued English kabuki productions until the outbreak of WWII.  In 1950, the Drama Department at the University of Hawaiʻi was formed, eventually becoming the Department of Theatre and Dance. The many “UH kabuki” productions that have been shared with the community have been possible thanks to the dedicated issei and nisei kabuki and kabuki dance practitioners in the community, as well Grand Kabuki professionals visiting from Japan, who have shared their expertise and time over the decades.

Benten Kozō at Kennedy Theatre, 1963.
Above/below: Benten Kozō at Kennedy Theatre, 1963.
Benten in the 1963 production at Kennedy Theatre.