The theatre first opened in the district of Hisamatsu-chô as the Kishô-za in 1873.2 Six years later it reopened under the name of Hisamatsu-za.3 In February 1885, it opened under a third name, Chitose-za,4 but burned down in 1890.5 In November 1893, it was rebuilt as the Meiji-za, the name that it holds today.6
In 1904, the Meiji-za underwent renovations, only to be burned down in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.7 Until the Meiji-za was rebuilt in Hama-chô,8 the Suehiro-za, a small theater in the Azabu Jûban district, served as a temporary replacement.9 The Meiji-za was burned down in the bombings of World War II, but reopened in December 1950.10 After a fire in 1957, it was reopened the next year.11
The Meiji-za put on two especially grand kabuki performances in March and April 1993 to celebrate three years of extensive renovations.12
In 2023, the Meija-za opened its 150th anniversary season with its first ever original musical, CESARE ~ Creator of Destruction ~, based on Fuyumi Soryo's manga of the same name.13 For this production, an orchestra pit was created there for the first time in the theatre's history.14
Official Homepage http://www.en.meijiza.co.jp/ ↩
"Meijiza". http://kabuki21.com/meijiza.php ↩
"ミュージカル「チェーザレ 破壊の創造者」公式サイト". ミュージカル「チェーザレ 破壊の創造者」公式|明治座 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-02-28. https://www.cesare-stage.com/ ↩
明治座創業以来初!オーケストラピットが出来るまでを大公開!|ミュージカル『チェーザレ 破壊の創造者』, retrieved 2023-02-28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZXrD4qKvX0 ↩