A new stage play adaptation of Shigeru Mizuki’s beloved GeGeGe no Kitaro manga is set to captivate audiences this August. The official X (formerly Twitter) account for the stage play revealed the exciting news, promising a fresh take on the classic yokai-filled world of Kitaro.
Tokyo and Osaka to Host Performances
The GeGeGe no Kitaro stage play will run at the Meiji-za theater in Tokyo from August 2nd to 16th, 2025, followed by performances at the Shin Kabuki-za theater in Osaka from August 18th to 25th. Fans in both cities will have the opportunity to witness the supernatural adventures of Kitaro and his friends come to life on stage.
New Director and Returning Cast
Yasuyuki Tsutsumi will be taking the helm as the new director and scriptwriter for the upcoming stage play. While there’s a new director, fortunately, some familiar faces will be reprising their roles, including:
- Yoshihiko Aramaki as GeGeGe no Kitaro
- Sumire Uesaka as Neko Musume
A new addition to the cast is Akio Ohtsuka, who will be playing Nezumi Otoko. The cast also includes Ryota Hirono, Keisuke Ueda, Rurika Miya, and Yūko Asano, who previously played Sunakake Baba in the 2022 stage play adaptation.
A Look Back at the Previous Stage Play (2022)
A previous stage play adaptation ran in Tokyo during July and August 2022 to commemorate the centennial of Shigeru Mizuki’s birth. Takahiro Tamura penned and directed the production, which featured Yoshihiko Aramaki as Kitaro, Sumire Uesaka as Neko Musume, and Takashi Fujii as Nezumi Otoko. Yūko Asano also starred as Sunakake Baba in the earlier production.
What is Gegege no Kitaro?
GeGeGe no Kitaro, originally known as Hakaba Kitaro, is a Japanese manga series created in 1960 by Shigeru Mizuki. The series is credited with popularizing yōkai, supernatural creatures from Japanese folklore.
Storyline
The story revolves around Kitaro, the last survivor of the Ghost Tribe, and his adventures with other ghouls and strange creatures from Japanese mythology. He strives to unite the worlds of humans and yōkai. Alongside Kitaro are his father, Medama-Oyaji (a mummified Ghost tribesman reincarnated to inhabit his old eyeball), Nezumi-Otoko (the rat-man), Neko-Musume (the cat-girl), and other folkloric creatures. The stories often involve Kitaro facing off against monsters from other countries, such as vampires and other non-Japanese creations.
More Gegege no Kitaro to Air on TV
In addition to the stage play announcement, it was revealed that a selection of episodes from the first through sixth anime seasons will be rebroadcast starting on April 6th at 9:00 a.m. on Fuji TV. Fuji TV will also feature a visual showcasing Mizuki and the different styles of Kitaro from the six seasons.
Other Gegege no Kitaro Adaptations
Mizuki’s manga has spawned seven television series, including one Hakaba Kitarō anime, several animated movies, and two live-action films. The latest anime film project, Kitarō Tanjō: Gegege no Nazo (Kitaro Birth: The Mystery of GeGeGe), opened in Japan in November 2023.
