Yachiyo-za — Attraction in Yamaga

In the northern part of Kumamoto prefecture and an hour drive away from Kumamoto City lies a beautiful and bustling agricultural city of Kyushu region, Yamaga City. Aside from the picturesque views of its mountains, rivers, and rice paddies, one of Japan’s designated National Important Cultural Property, YACHIYO-ZA is located here.

Yachiyo-za theater, a playhouse built by hand in the early 1900s, is one of the many cultural attractions of the city. Inside, you can see the patiently hand-painted advertisements of yesteryears on the ceiling. It’s an amazing piece of art itself. You can also visit the back stage and the “abyss” or the under floor area, where the revolving stage and trapdoors are found. Variety of cultural performances such as concerts, kabuki, and the famous Yamaga garden lantern dance (a regular performance which, if you are lucky you can see one when you visit) are held here.

The theater is open to visitors/general public on days where there are no performances. You may want to check out Yachiyo-za’s official website for the tour schedule before coming.

And oh… the volunteer tour guides...

An amazing theatre, where you can be relatively free to wander around and take in a long lost way of entertainment. If you love any kind of theatre you should visit. If you love Japanese history and culture, you should visit. If you want to help those stricken by the earthquakes in April, 2016 then you should visit. It's a beautiful area with hot springs and traditional streets. Highly...

I had to pay 1500¥ to get in, but that was because they had shows there that day. The good part was that between shows you could explore the whole theater, even under the stage! And the ticket was valid until you left, meaning I could watch more than just the one show. There's AC and free WiFi as well, so it was perfect to relax...