Kaomise at Minamiza

When is the Minamiza Kaomise in 2026?

From 1 to 24 December 2026, daily except 9 and 17 December. The matinee starts at 10:30 and ends about 15:15; the evening starts at 16:00 and ends about 21:10.

The Kabuki Official Website calls it a grand kabuki with actors from East and West, a Kyoto tradition dating back to the Edo period. Minamiza itself stands at the east end of the Shijo-ohashi Bridge, in a Momoyama-style building from 1929 that reopened in November 2018 after earthquake-proofing.

Some dates go first. On 4 November reserved seats were shown as sold out for the matinees of 12, 19 and 20 December and the evening of 18 December. A sold-out sign online is not always the last word: Shochiku may still have seats by phone or at the box office.

What is on the 2026 Kaomise programme?

Three pieces in the matinee and four in the evening, from dance to history plays to new kabuki. The evening ends with Kobikicho no Adauchi, staged at Minamiza for the first time.

Kobikicho no Adauchi comes from a Naoki Prize-winning novel by Nagai Sayako. Kobikicho is the old name of the Ginza district around Kabuki-za, which gives the Kyoto run a nice link to Tokyo. In the matinee, Otowa-ga-take Dammari was first staged in 1935 in memory of Onoe Kikugoro V.

The cast runs from Kataoka Nizaemon and Matsumoto Koshiro to Nakamura Ganjiro, Nakamura Senjaku and Ichikawa Somegoro. Kochiyama in the evening has two casts: Kataoka Nizaemon in programme A and Matsumoto Koshiro in programme B, on different dates listed on the Kabuki Official Website.

How much are Minamiza Kaomise tickets in December 2026?

From 6,000 yen (4th class) to 28,000 yen (special seat), tax included. The special seat is not sold online.

Shochiku's English page lists online sales from 9 November 2026 at 10:00 JST; the multilingual site (e-tix.jp/shochiku) closes online sales two days before the show at theatres other than Kabuki-za. The Minamiza box office opens from 10:00 to 17:30. Children over 4 need their own ticket.

This site has no Minamiza ticket of its own. For a Kyoto evening with dance in the same trip, the maiko show in a Zen temple is 90 minutes in Kōun-ji, near Nanzen-ji, for up to 12 guests.

Two maiko dances, a parlour game and questions with an English-speaking guide in a 13th-century Zen temple usually closed to the public.

New · 1.5 hours · from $128

Explore the maiko show in a Kyoto temple → Tour details

What are the maneki boards at Minamiza?

Tall wooden boards with the actors' names in Kanteiryu, the bold brush lettering of kabuki, hung on the front of Minamiza in late November before the Kaomise. Putting them up is called maneki-age.

Maneki means “invitation”, and the boards announce who will be on stage. The Kyoto Shimbun described the 2013 maneki-age: craftsmen started before dawn by putting up a bamboo fence at the entrance, then hung 61 boards one by one, the last soon after 9:00 on 25 November. The date changes each year, so watch the Minamiza front in late November if you are in Kyoto.

The boards stay up for the run, which makes the theatre front a fine photo stop on an evening walk to Gion, even without a ticket.

Can you follow the Kaomise in English?

Yes, up to a point. An English guide can be rented at Minamiza, and a free English flyer gives the story of each piece; there is no caption device here like the one at Kabuki-za.

Read the flyer in the interval before each piece, not during it. Minamiza is 1 minute from Exit 6 of Keihan Gion-Shijo Station and 3 minutes from Exit 1 of Hankyu Kyoto-Kawaramachi; from JR Kyoto Station a taxi takes about 15 minutes.

For the history behind Kyoto and kabuki, from Izumo no Okuni dancing in the dry bed of the Kamo River in 1603 to the theatres licensed there, see our kabuki history guide.

What is on at Kabuki-za in December 2026?

Three parts from 2 to 25 December 2026, at 11:00, 14:30 and 18:00, with no shows on 9 and 17 December. Prices run from 4,500 to 17,000 yen, lower than in a two-part month.

The first part opens with Okuni Sanza Harugasumi Kabuki Zoshi, a dance whose title names Okuni, the woman credited with starting kabuki. The third part pairs Ichikawa Danjuro and Bando Tamasaburo in Yowa Nasake Ukina no Yokogushi. Tickets go on sale online and by phone on 14 November 2026 at 10:00 JST, and at the box office from 16 November.

Each part is shorter than a two-part month's show, which suits a first visit. The caption device in English or Simplified Chinese works the same in December, and our November post has the current month's Chushingura.

Frequently asked questions