A little of each town’s story

Asakusa Rokku and the Toyokan theater

From: An Asakusa food diary that begins at an old coffee house

The Toyokan theater, lined with banners

The area west of Senso-ji, covering Asakusa 1- and 2-chome, also called Koen Rokku. After fires in 1841, the shogunate moved the kabuki theaters to Saruwaka-cho in Asakusa, bringing all three of Edo's major theaters together in one place, which helped Asakusa grow into an entertainment town. From the Taisho era into Showa it was the center of entertainment in Tokyo, the birthplace of Asakusa opera and light comedy. The France-za strip theater, opened in 1951, is where Beat Takeshi (Takeshi Kitano) got his start as a comedian; today it carries on as the Asakusa France-za Engeijo Toyokan. In the diary of his later years, the novelist Kafu Nagai is said to have written the word "Asakusa" almost every day.

Sources: tabi-mag.jp tabi-mag.jp nippon.com serai.jp

This moment in the journey

Rokku, the entertainers' quarter

Pass through Nakamise Street to the west and you come to Asakusa Rokku. From the Taisho era into Showa, this was the center of entertainment in Tokyo. Off a street lined with old-fashioned lamps, narrow alleys run deep into the block.

The France-za, where Beat Takeshi got his start as a comedian, is still going strong as the Toyokan variety theater. Its shutter is painted with entertainers, and a sign on the ticket-office door said the day's show had ended. The novelist Kafu Nagai, in his later years, was a keen visitor to Asakusa too.

Watch this scene on YouTube1:34

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