This playhouse with about 700 seats was built in 1910 and was designated as an important cultural property. Yamaga City, as of the 19th- 20th century, enjoyed economic prosperity thanks to a key base of logistic as well as a hot spring resort in central Kyushu. Some wealthy merchants there jointly invested a lot of money to build the playhouse as a popular amusement base for the locals. A local merchant, Kimura Kametaro, who was locally known as a person of many talents for architecture, painting, lantern making for the local festival and the like, was commissioned to design it. He also drew the round posters on the ceiling as shown in the second photo. Yamaga is far from Tokyo and Osaka though, the very well-known stars in Japan at that time were invited to the playhouse and it was always packed with the locals accordingly. In 1960s when Japan’s amusement changed to movies and TV, thereafter, the playhouse was obliged to close in 1973. As of now, this is utilized for a leading tourist attraction of Yamaga. From Kanamaru-za playhouse in Kagawa Prefecture built in 1835 down, these kinds of the oldest existing playhouses in Japan count just six.
Jason Hardy
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