The Meiji-za (明治座) is a theatre in Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally constructed in 1873. It presents kabuki and Western stage plays.

History

The theatre first opened in the district of Hisamatsu-chô as the Kishô-za in 1873. Six years later it reopened under the name of Hisamatsu-za. In February 1885, it opened under a third name, Chitose-za, but burned down in 1890. In November 1893, it was rebuilt as the Meiji-za, the name that it holds today. In 1904, the Meiji-za underwent renovations, only to be burned down in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. Until the Meiji-za was rebuilt in Hama-chô, the Suehiro-za, a small theater in the Azabu Jûban district, served as a temporary replacement. The Meiji-za was burned down in the bombings of World War II, but reopened in December 1950. After a fire in 1957, it was reopened the next year. The Meiji-za put on two especially grand kabuki performances in March and April 1993 to celebrate three years of extensive renovations. 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. For this production, an orchestra pit was created there for the first time in the theatre's history.