Play runs from July 3 to August 23 in Tokyo
The official website for the Super Kabuki stage play adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke film presented the play’s main cast in costume via a short ad on Wednesday.
The play will star:
Danko Ichikawa V as Ashitaka
Image via Princess Mononoke kabuki play’s website
© 1997 Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli, ND
Kazutarō Nakamura as San
Image via Princess Mononoke kabuki play’s website
© 1997 Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli, ND
Tokizō Nakamura VI as Eboshi Gozen
Image via Princess Mononoke kabuki play’s website
© 1997 Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli, ND
Image via Shochiku Stage X/Twitter account
© 1997 Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli, ND
The play will run from July 3 to August 23 at the Shinbashi Enbujō Theatre in Tokyo. The new production celebrates the Super Kabuki production’s 40th anniversary.
Kensuke Yokouchi is directing the play. Keiko Niwa, who has written or assisted on scripts for such Studio Ghibli films as The Wind Rises, Arrietty, and When Marnie Was There, is co-writing the script with Kazuhisa Tobe, who also directed and wrote the Evangelion kabuki project. The production will use Joe Hisaishi’s music.
The Super Kabuki production debuted in 1986, and is known for merging traditional kabuki staging with modern stage concepts.
GKIDS began screening a 4K restoration of the film exclusively in IMAX theaters in North America on March 26, 2025 to celebrate Studio Ghibli’s 40th anniversary. The company describes the film’s story:
Inflicted with a deadly curse, the young warrior Ashitaka heads west in search of a cure. There, he stumbles into a bitter conflict between Lady Eboshi, the proud people of Iron Town, and the enigmatic Princess Mononoke, a young girl raised by wolves, who will stop at nothing to prevent the humans from destroying her home and the forest spirits and animal gods who live there. Featuring the voice talents of Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Billy Bob Thornton.
Sources: Princess Mononoke kabuki play’s website, Mainichi Shimbun’s Mantan Web
