The kabuki play, “Renjishi,” is the story of the white-haired father shishi (mystical lion) and his two red-haired shishi cubs. The opening of the play is told through a dance with puppets. From left: Fukunosuke Nakamura, Shikan Nakamura (front) and Hashinosuke Nakamura. (Photo by Wayne Shinbara)After first telling the story through puppets, it was then related through dance, with the actors becoming the father and his cubs, moving their manes about vigorously to show their power and grandeur. (Photo by Wayne Shinbara)Shikan Nakamura and his sons Fukunosuke Nakamura and Hashinosuke on the Kennedy Theatre hanamichi. (Photo by Wayne Shinbara)Honolulu City Councilmember Carol Fukunaga presented a congratulatory certificate from the City Council to (from left) San’emon Tobaya, Richo Tobaya and Shikan Nakamura at a reception at the Japanese Consulate. (Photo by Jodie Ching)San’emon Tobaya, a naga-uta singer and Kabuki in Hawaii 2019 Executive Committee chairman, with his father, Richo Tobaya, a Living National Treasure of Japan in naga-uta. Richo Tobaya also performed for the 1967 kabuki in Hawai‘i performance at Kennedy Theatre. (Photo by Jodie Ching)Naga-uta singer San’emon Tobaya explains the musical aspects of kabuki. At the end of its Honolulu run, kabuki actor Shikan Nakamura VIII donated the gold leaf screen behind the musicians to the University of Hawai‘i. The screen was painted for Nakamura and his sons by his friend and supporter Asakura Takafumi. “This screen was used as the backdrop on our recent tour to celebrate our family name succession and traveled with us to many different cities, so it holds many fond memories for us. We are so grateful to have been invited to perform in Hawai’i, and we wanted to express our appreciation to everyone here for their friendship and aloha by presenting this screen to the University of Hawai‘i,” said Nakamura in a press release. (Photo by Wayne Shinbara)
