Minamiza Theater

we were in Kyoto on the 16th of august 2025 and made it to the 4.00pm show.. it was so amazing , we loved it.. even though it was in Japanese we understood what was going on.. to me it was a lifetime of wanting to see kabuki as i was a student that studied about Japanese culture for 4 years and my dreams came true .. I love kabuki and when we come back we will go again. I would recommend to see this as it is a huge learning experiece. thank you Minamiza theater and all the renowed artist. we thank you so much Beatriz and Terry. XXXXXX

Loved my first experience watching Kabuki. I was watching Lupin show. Even when you don't speak the language you will understand what's going on especially when you have a little bit understanding of the culture. The seat and the legroom is very narrow and short so it might be challenging for tall people. Phones are not allowed during the show. There's also a few snacks and drinks counter inside the theatre but you can only consume them during intermission.

I went there to watch Kabuki for beginners play and it was amazing. Minamiza Theater has a very unique atmosphere to itself. There were food and drink halls. It is very convenient to go there as it has a bus stop right in front of the building and also pretty close to the subway station. The event was completely Japanese but there was an option for English translation through the earphone they give you for the price of a bowl of ramen.

The kabuki introductory event for 5000 yen is recommendable. The artists and other staff clearly love their work. The 20 min kabuki show was most impressive. In my opinion, you get the story without the audio tranlation for 880 yen and can better appreciate all the sounds and movement from the stage. There was an audiance participation segment (you had to volunteer, no random selection).

Nice theatre. I went to a kabuki play and was nice, but I would not purchase again the English audio guide, they don't use a real voice actor and is slow.

This is an awesome traditional Japanese theatre that have all sorts of traditional Japanese shows. The inside of the theatre looks magnificent and have multiple tiers which all have pretty good view of the main stage. I came here to see the geisha performance and thought it was quite good.

The kabuki show was beautiful and a rich experience of Japanese culture. The pricing and seating arrangement is great - for just 5,000 yen you can get a clear and unobstructed view from the 3rd floor.

The theater featured a spring presentation of a Traditional Japanese Puppet play except with actors. It was a serious dose of culture especially since I don't speak the language. The Announcer/Comedian who opened the show spotted me in the audience and I believe he made a little inside joke with the whole rest of the audience! Also before the serious part of the show we were allowed to take a picture and he looked right at me and said, "Go ahead, take a picture, it's ok" in English! I was in the tenth row! (the only westerner) The first half of the presentation had wonderful costumes and poses and at times I could understand the symbolism. The theater itself is beautiful and added to the cultural immersion. It was a taste of the past to see a lot of stage functions done by hand. After the first Play there was a lunch break with a snack shop in the theater and some concessionaires selling food in the auditorium. The second half of the show was put on by the younger actors who did high spirited songs and dance and set decorations that were a celebration of spring! If you enjoy exposing yourself to the wonderful culture of Japan try to catch one of these shows in Kyoto, Osaka or Tokyo.

What a beautiful theater!! If you hate going to purchase tickets, I'd recommend doing so online or through your hotel concierge. It can get quite packed during the day. I learned the hard way and had to weave through people just to get to the ticket counter. We opted for the full 5 hour show, which began at 10:30am. If you don't want to do the full 5 hours, you can purchase tickets to just watch one act, which are about an hour each. Once we got inside, we were surprised by how packed it was. We were also treated with a crowd of geishas who had reserved the 2nd level seating on the sides. What a cool experience to see them there! The show itself is several acts long with an intermission of 30 mins for lunch. I was told by the ticket counter to just bring your own boxed lunch or purchase one in the theater to eat at your seat. This is what most people did, and so, we did the same. We went out to a convenience store and purchased some sandwiches and onigiri. The actors are stupendous, and the backdrops are simply gorgeous!