The Meiji-za (明治座, "Meiji Theatre") is a theatre in Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally constructed in 1873.[1] It presents kabuki and Western stage plays.
The theatre first opened in the district of Hisamatsu-chô as the Kishô-za in 1873.[2] Six years later it reopened under the name of Hisamatsu-za.[2] In February 1885, it opened under a third name, Chitose-za,[2] but burned down in 1890.[2] In November 1893, it was rebuilt as the Meiji-za, the name that it holds today.[2]
In 1904, the Meiji-za underwent renovations, only to be burned down in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.[2] Until the Meiji-za was rebuilt in Hama-chô,[2] the Suehiro-za, a small theater in the Azabu Jûban district, served as a temporary replacement.[2] The Meiji-za was burned down in the bombings of World War II, but reopened in December 1950.[2] After a fire in 1957, it was reopened the next year.[2]
The Meiji-za put on two especially grand kabuki performances in March and April 1993 to celebrate three years of extensive renovations.[2]
In 2023, the Meija-za opened its 150th anniversary season with its first ever original musical, CESARE ~ Creator of Destruction ~, based on Fuyumi Soryo's manga of the same name.[3] For this production, an orchestra pit was created there for the first time in the theatre's history.[4]
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