A Hayashi Concert featuring Katada Kisaku IV, grand master of the Katada School of kabuki nagauta hayashi music, will be held Sunday, Aug. 23, beginning at 11:30 a.m. at Rafu Chuo Gakuen, 204 N. Saratoga St. in Boyle Heights.
Katada is also scheduled to participate in the Nisei Week Grand Parade on Aug. 16.
The concert will offer a rare opportunity to experience an authentic hayashi performance by a grand master visiting from Japan as part of Nisei Week.
Katada Kisaku IV is the second son of Katada Kisaku III, a Living National Treasure who played a major role in the development of Los Angeles’ traditional Japanese music community. He succeeded to the name Katada Shinjuro IX in 1988 and became grand master of the Katada School in 2025, when he assumed the name Katada Kisaku IV.
He has performed extensively in Japan and abroad, including in kabuki and Japanese classical dance productions. He is also known for performing the kotsuzumi, or shoulder drum, under the name Katada Shinjuro IX in the film “Kokuho.”
In Los Angeles, he appeared in the 2017 Hayashi Concert, the 2019 Yamatogaku and Hayashi Concert, and last year’s Yamatogaku USA 25th Anniversary Concert. Carrying on his father’s legacy, he continues to support Los Angeles’ traditional Japanese music community.
The program will feature the nagauta works “Hinazuru Sanbaso,” “Fuji Musume,” “Echigo Jishi” and “Tsurukame,” as well as the Yamatogaku composition “Ayame” and a hayashi demonstration.
Performers will include Katada Kimisen, Kineya Kichitoji, Yamato Yasoyo, Kineya Yasoyo and Yamato Yasoyo, joined by their students. The workshop will offer audience members a rare opportunity to speak directly with and ask questions of musicians active at the forefront of Japan’s traditional music world.
Numerous Japanese classical dance and traditional music performances were presented in Los Angeles during the 1980s. In 1982, prominent Japanese classical performing artists were invited from Japan to teach at a UCLA summer program.
The following year, the Japan America Theatre — now the Aratani Theatre — opened. Large-scale Japanese classical dance productions by such artists as Madame Fujima Kansuma, Madame Wakayagi Hisami and Madame Bando Mitsuhiro followed in Los Angeles, supported by jikata musicians invited from Japan to provide live accompaniment.
One of the leading figures among them was Katada Kisaku III, a master of kabuki nagauta hayashi music who was designated a holder of Important Intangible Cultural Property, commonly known as a Living National Treasure, in 1999. He traveled from Japan to serve as a jikata accompanist for dance productions held in conjunction with Nisei Week, bringing authentic kabuki music to the Los Angeles Japanese American community.
In subsequent years, as dancers and musicians grew older or retired, full-scale dance productions featuring accompanists brought from Japan gradually became less common. Opportunities to see Japanese classical dance performed with live music also became increasingly limited.
In recent years, however, a new generation of artists has helped revitalize Japanese classical performing arts in Los Angeles. In January, Bando Hidesomi presented a full-scale dance production at the Aratani Theatre featuring Hideko Bando. In October, Bando Hirohichiro is scheduled to present a dance performance at The Huntington featuring Bando Nao, the eldest daughter of Bando Mitsugoro X, who is active as both a dancer and an actor.
The concert is presented by the nonprofit organization Fuji Japanese Music, Inc. (Fuji no Kai), in collaboration with the traditional Japanese music group Shiki no Kai. Dedicated to promoting and preserving traditional Japanese music in the U.S., Fuji Japanese Music, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that conducts educational workshops for children at schools and community centers, presents live performances and provides instruction in hayashi, nagauta and Yamatogaku to its students throughout the country.
Advance tickets are $35 for adults and $25 for children. Tickets purchased at the door are $40 for adults and $30 for children. Tickets are available through Eventbrite by scanning the ticket QR code.
For more information, contact Katada Kimisen at fujijapanesemusic@gmail.com or scan the information QR code.