Konpira Grand Theatre - Kanamaruza

Note: This is primarily a historical theatre building to view as architecture and heritage. Performances are held only occasionally and are very rare. When a performance is scheduled, announcements are posted on the Konpira Kabuki Official Website (Japanese). Please check there for the latest information.

About the Old Konpira Grand Theatre

The Old Konpira Grand Theatre was founded in Tenpo 6 (1835) and is the oldest surviving playhouse in Japan.

In the pilgrimage town of Konpira—long a center of popular devotion—the venue was built to shift from temporary festival stages to a permanent theatre. It was modeled on the Ōnishi Theatre in Osaka’s Dōtonbori and also functioned as a lottery drawing hall.

Back then the town hosted plays, sumo, acrobatics, and puppet shows, with theatre-going becoming the top entertainment. The playhouse gained nationwide renown as a first-class venue where star actors from east and west trod its cypress-wood stage.

In modern times it was converted into a cinema and renamed several times (Inariza → Chitoseza → Kanamaruza) before closing. Thanks to preservation efforts, it was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1970 (Shōwa 45), then relocated and restored on the mid-slope of Mt. Atago in 1976 (Shōwa 51). Since 1985 (Shōwa 60), the annual Shikoku Konpira Kabuki Oshibai has been held here as a beloved spring tradition.

During the Heisei-era major renovation, seismic studies led to steel reinforcement in the attic and the removal of four pillars supporting the main beam—allowing the interior to return to an appearance close to its Edo-period form.