KABUKI KOOL Season 8

Season 8

Air date: 2021-04-07

Episodes: 10

Episodes

E1: Edo Food in Kabuki

Kabuki often depicts traditional Japanese dishes. Actor Kataoka Ainosuke introduces scenes with several examples, and teaches us about what foods were popular in the Edo period. In "Hokaibo," a disreputable begging priest takes time off from abducting a beautiful girl for a bowl of soba noodles from a roadside stall.

Air date: 2021-04-07

E2: Two Kabuki Flowers of Evil: Kochiyama and Naozamurai

Actor Kataoka Ainosuke explores the enduring appeal of 2 outlaws. Despite their crimes, they protect the weak and can be tender lovers. The villainous tea priest, Kochiyama (left) and Naojiro (right), ex-samurai and thief, but also a gallant lover, are our attractive villains.

Air date: 2021-05-05

E3: Spring Blossoms and the Festival in Asakusa

Actor Kataoka Ainosuke explores a kabuki dance in which 2 actors play a total of 8 different roles featuring Tokyo's famous Sanja Festival. The most famous part of the dance features the legendary fishermen who caught the Buddhist image in the temple at Asakusa in their net.

Air date: 2021-06-02

E4: Devoted Love and Warring Clans

Unswerving Devotion: The Japanese Twenty-Four Examples of Filial Piety. Kataoka Ainosuke is our guide to a play featuring a kabuki princess in a story of warring clans and the magic of a sacred helmet. Princess Yaegaki holding the sacred helmet and surrounded by the magical foxes. With the help of the magic of the foxes, she goes to save her lover's life.

Air date: 2021-06-30

E5: An Evil Villain vs. The Spirit of the Cherry

This time, a fantastic dance play "The Snowbound Barrier" from the 18th c. with an ambitious villain defeated by the spirit of the cherry tree in the form of a beautiful woman.

Air date: 2021-09-01

E6: The Gallant Commoner: Banzui Chobei

This time we look at a 17th century historical figure who was the champion of the commoners against the abuses of the samurai. We look at Chobei as a gang boss and then a play that shows his tragic end. Mizuno, the leader of a samurai gang, traps Chobei into going defenseless into the bath so that he can kill him.

Air date: 2021-10-06

E7: The Vendetta at Iga: Families Meet and Part

A chance meeting leads to tragic consequences as the divided loyalties of family and duty tear 3 people apart. Actor Kataoka Ainosuke explores "Numazu." Jubei, a cloth merchant, learns that the porter Heisaku and his family are helping a vendetta that aims at killing his lord. Moreover, he finds out that Heisaku is his real father. Here, at the end of the play, Jubei helps the vendetta and can finally embrace the dying Heisaku as his father.

Air date: 2021-11-03

E8: Demons in Kabuki

Actor Kataoka Ainosuke explores the folklore and history behind Japanese Oni, or demons, and guides us through 3 spectacular kabuki dramas in which they play a central role. While viewing the autumn leaves, a court aristocrat encounters a demon and fights it with a powerful sword.

Air date: 2022-01-05

E9: Sogo from Sakura: A Farmer Martyr

Actor Kataoka Ainosuke explores the historic tale of Kiuchi Sogo, a village headman who sacrifices his life begging the shogun to save his fellow farmers from starvation. Even though he has been captured and will be executed, Sogo smiles with satisfaction because he knows that the shogun has heard his plea for mercy.

Air date: 2022-02-02

E10: The Tale of Lord Okura: Dedicated to Genji's Revival

Actor Kataoka Ainosuke explores a play where 2 people must hide their true characters and feelings to survive a turbulent historic era. In the final moments, Lord Okura appears in this spectacular costume to show that he is revealing his inner self.

Air date: 2022-03-01