KYOTO -- Name boards of 54 Kabuki actors went on display at a theater in this west Japan city on Nov. 25, ahead of the annual festive "kaomise" production in December, starring performers from across the country.

       The grand performance will be the second to be held amid the coronavirus pandemic at the Minamiza Theatre in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward. Those affiliated with the theater prayed for its success.

       The display of name boards on the theater's facade is known as a tradition for people in Kyoto that heralds the arrival of December. At around 9 a.m. on the day, a wooden board bearing the name of living national treasure Kataoka Nizaemon was raised, followed by 53 others.

       The shows will be held between Dec. 2 and 23, except for Dec. 7 and 15. To commemorate the late living national treasure Sakata Tojuro, who passed away in November 2020, his major work "The Love Suicides at Sonezaki" and other plays will be performed.

       (Japanese original by Yoko Minami, Kyoto Bureau)

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