There was a parade of famous Kabuki actors through the city centre on Saturday (July 5th). I was rather shocked at the turn out – seemed like every man & his dog was there. The square in front of their hotel was absolutely rammed with fans. More famous then, than I expected!
Disappointingly, the actors were not in costume/make up. They were paraded to the castle in rickshaws, accompanied with floats, old school music & a lot of confetti throwing. These actors were almost mobbed by enthusiastic/delirious seniors!

Kabuki is a traditional Edo period style of play, the like of which rarely visits our northern climes. Matsumoto is the last leg of “Heisei Nakamura-za“, on its world tour. The show is directed by the manager of Matsumoto Arts and Performance Center, Kushida Kazumi. The show runs until the 13th, and judging by the mayhem on Saturday, tickets will have been long sold out.

Shame – yet another event nobody bothered to let the non-Japanese speaking world know about.