道頓堀角座, Former theatre site in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan
Dotonbori Kakuza was a theatre and vaudeville hall on the Dotonbori canal in Chūō-ku, Osaka, first licensed in 1652 as the Osaka Taszaemon theatre and named for its corner position by the Taszaemon bridge. Rebuilt in 2013 as Shochiku Geino DAIHATSU MOVE Dotonbori Kakuza, it held 126 seats, with the hall and Shochiku Geino's head office in the main block and restaurants in a separate wing. Its red facade carried the name KADOZA; the theatre closed on 22 July 2018 when its fixed-term land lease expired.
The theatre opened in 1652 as the Osada Tazaemon theatre, licensed by the shogunate, and took its name from its corner position by the Tazaemon Bridge over the Dotonbori canal. In 1758 Namiki Shōzō introduced the revolving stage here. Shōchiku took over in 1920; the building burned in the war and reopened as a cinema, then became a 1,000-seat comedy hall in 1958. It closed in 2007, and the 2013 successor, Shōchiku Geinō DAIHATSU MOVE Dōtonbori Kakuza, shut on 22 July 2018 when its fixed-term land lease expired.
The name Kakuza comes from its position at the corner across Tazaemon Bridge over the Dotonbori River, and the theatre was nicknamed "Kaku no Shibai". In the 1958–1984 variety hall era, its red lanterns were the trademark and the programme changed every ten days, with two performances a day and no re-entry. The stage was bare hinoki boards and performers took off their shoes to step onto it.
The theatre closed on 22 July 2018 when its fixed-term land lease expired; the site now holds the Hotel Forza Osaka Namba Dotonbori, opened in 2021. Shochiku Geino moved its headquarters to Kita-Kyuhoji 2-chome and staged shows in borrowed venues, opening DAIHATSU Shinsaibashi Kadoza in the basement of Unagidani Square on 1 January 2019.
The 2013 building was meant to last only five years, so construction costs were cut to the minimum: the main block held the 126-seat hall and Shochiku Geino's head office, with no ticket counter in that block. A separate wing housed restaurants, and an event space called Kakuza Hiroba stood on the site. The hall closed on 22 July 2018 when the fixed-term land lease expired.
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