murmurKaomise Kabuki at Minamiza Theatre
Kyoto City · Minamiza Theatre (east end of Shijo Bridge)
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Shochiku Co., Ltd. · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Dec 1–24, 2026
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually in December
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Every December; the run dates are announced each year by Shochiku
- Venue
- Minamiza Theatre (east end of Shijo Bridge)
- City
- Kyoto City, Kyoto
About
Every December, Minamiza Theatre at the east end of Shijo Bridge stages its Kaomise ("face-showing") kabuki season, one of Kyoto's best-loved year-end traditions, which has carried on without a break even through the war years. Popular kabuki actors from eastern and western Japan share the bill; the 2026 program is titled "Ataru Hitsujidoshi Kichirei Kaomise Kogyo." Minamiza's roots go back to the early Edo period, on the Shijo riverbank, then a lively theater district, and for more than 400 years it has been a center of kabuki and other stage arts. The yagura tower is the theater's emblem, and the building is a nationally registered tangible cultural property, steps from Exit 6 of Gion-Shijo Station on the Keihan Line.
Sources
- OfficialShochiku Co., Ltd. www.shochiku.co.jp
- OfficialShochiku Co., Ltd. (Minamiza) www.shochiku.co.jp
- OfficialKyoto City Tourism Association (Kyoto Travel Navi) ja.kyoto.travel
- Reference南座の歴史｜松竹 www.shochiku.co.jp
Last checked: Oct 10, 2026. Event information is based on official announcements, but changes may not always be reflected here. Please check each official website for accurate details.
Other events this month
On the day, see what locals are murmuring on the murmur map
murmur is an app that shows short, anonymous posts on a map, right where they were written. On festival day, open the map around the venue and see what people nearby are saying.