Acting on tradition

Mike Sciacca

Nakamura “Ken” Gankyo really took to heart a piece of advice his

grandmother had given to all of her grandchildren.

“She asked us to make sure that we will never forget our heritage,

to pass along our traditions to the next generation,” said Gankyo,

24, a Japanese-American who was born Ken Kanesaka and raised in

Huntington Beach. “That was her request.”

Gankyo -- his stage name -- has found pleasure in respecting the

advice given by Mary Sugino by becoming part of a revered Japanese

art form and taking on a role that reaches back 402 years, one that

is considered one of the world’s great theater traditions.

With face makeup, wig and intricate costuming becoming part of his

persona, Gankyo is part of the Chikamatsu-za troupe of the revered

Grand Kabuki of Japan, which is performing through Friday at the

Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.

The Southern California appearance is the first in a decade for

the Grand Kabuki of Japan, and the third and final leg of a West

Coast tour that began in Seattle and just wrapped performances in San

Francisco.

Following the Cerritos performances, the troupe will return to

Japan.

The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, located in

downtown Los Angeles in Little Tokyo, is in charge of the Cerritos

production.

At 24, Gankyo is the youngest performer in the 75-member company,

which stars Japanese living national treasure, Nakamura Ganjiro III,

and will perform the Chikamatsu classical masterpiece, “Love Suicides

at Sonezaki,” a drama written more than 300 years ago.

Gankyo, in his second year with the troupe, is the first

non-Japanese citizen to be received into the professional ranks in

the 402-year history of Kabuki.

“Being a part of Kabuki has been very satisfying,” Gankyo said. “I

owe everything to Ganjiro, who is my teacher and granted me

enrollment. He took a risk, and he has taught me everything.”

Kabuki is a spectacular theatrical tradition that combines music,

dance, drama and comedy, and is accentuated by grand stage settings.

Since 1629, all roles in Kabuki -- including those of women -- have

been performed by male “onnagata” actors.

In four performances at Cerritos, Gankyo will play the roles of a

shrine visitor and a “kasuki” manservant to his master.

Following graduation from Huntington Beach High in 1998, where he

was a much-honored student in the Academy of the Performing Arts,

Gankyo went on to attend UCLA and, while there, studied abroad one

year in Japan at the University of Tokyo.

While studying in Japan, he was accepted into the Shochiku

Kamigata School of Kabuki in Osaka, where he would graduate first in

his class.

During the 2 1/2 -year program, he was trained in “everything to

do,” he said, with Japanese culture, and that included flower

arranging, tea ceremonies, calligraphy, history and voice training.

He has been a company member of the Shochiku Grand Kabuki

Chikamatsu-za since 2003 and has performed with the Chikamatsu-za

company in China, Korea, Los Angeles, the St. Louis Japan Festival

and the Festival of Nations.

Gankyo began studying Japanese classical dance in 1983, at the age of three, under Mme. Mitsuhiro Bando, a school he eventually would

receive a “natori,” or, master’s degree, from in 1998.

Two years ago, he taught a three-week intensive Kabuki workshop at

the Drama School in New Delhi, India.

“I have known Ken since he was a young boy and have seen him grow

into a fine young man and wonderful performer,” said Robert Hori of

the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center. “What is really

gratifying for us at the center is that Ken has become a person who

has helped promote an understanding of the Japanese culture in the

U.S.

“I think that what is interesting about him as an artist, is that

he brings a different interpretation of things, such as emotion, to

the Kabuki. He comes from a Japanese-American experience, and not one

that has strictly been in one country, or the other.”

Although his grandmother, who is visiting family in Hawaii, won’t

be able to attend this rare Southern California performance by the

Grand Kabuki of Japan, Gankyo knows she’ll be there in spirit.

Other family members, including his parents, will watch him

perform.

“It will really be different to have them in the audience,” Gankyo

said of his family. “I haven’t performed in front of them before, so

I’m exited.

“My entire experience with the Kabuki these past two years has

been so exciting and amazing. In a way, it has helped me give back.

The Japanese community has been really supportive of me throughout

all these years, and now I’m trying to get the younger generation

involved with the culture. That’s what has become most important to

me.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 966-4611 or by e-mail at [email protected].