A performance commemorating the 120th anniversary of the birth and 40 years since her death, and the reconstruction and restoration of the main hall of Shuri Castle, of Miyakojima-born female composer Kanai Kikuko, known as the “mother of Okinawan music.” Ryukyu performing arts and karate are fused with the framework of Western opera, and an opera written by Kikuko Kanai, which is a story about Shuri Castle roof tiles, will be performed.

An audition was held for the 2 child actors who will appear in the movie for the event.
Application deadline 6/20 (Sat) 17:00 (In the case of a large number of applicants, documents will be screened and the results will be notified by 7/10)
Auditions 7/19 (Sun) in the morning

(Synopsis) The setting is Ryukyu hundreds of years ago, fighting against typhoons and foreign enemies. Politicians, who were worried about whether they could make durable tiles, decided to invite engineers from Tang. However, the condition was “to marry the most beautiful woman in Ryukyu.” Nami, who has a husband and children, was singled out. The love of a family that is being torn apart. Pledging recapture, the husband and villagers confront each other with karate, but the karabune carrying Nami sails mercilessly. What is the last sad yet strong decision that the heroine Nami made?

Kanai Kikuko profile
Born in 1906 in Miyako Island, Okinawa. Although she has been familiar with traditional Okinawan music since childhood, her life was determined by being exposed to Western music while attending Okinawa Prefectural First High School (later Okinawa Prefectural High School for Girls). After graduation, she went to Tokyo and graduated from the vocal music department at the Japan Music School, but she had a sense of mission to popularize Okinawan music, and also studied under Shimosa Kanichi, Wu Taijiro, Otaka Takatada, and Hirao Kiyoshi, etc. at the Tokyo Music School selection (currently Tokyo University of the Arts), and is said to have been the first Japanese female composer to compose a symphony. Since then, they have vigorously continued their activities in a wide range of fields, mainly in Tokyo, and presented symphonies, chamber music, stage music (Takarazuka Revue performances), and the opera “Okinawa Story” one after another, performed by the Japan Symphony Orchestra (now the NHK Symphony Orchestra), etc. Also, since he is a senior Himeyuri student, charity concerts for the construction of the Himeyuri Peace Museum were held in various places in his later years. He was a composer who dedicated his life to music and Okinawa.

Conductor: Shibata Mika
Director: Aguni Jun

casts
Nami: Sunagawa Ryoko
Matsukane: Takumi Yogi
Sokan: ONUMA Toru
Official Shinjo: Ryuko Kentaro
Official Itoman: Saijo Tomoyuki
Kairai Koroku: Kina Hibiki
Ieki Otake: Ryu Shinichiro
Handmaid Koharu: Tomori Atsuko
Handmaid Wakanatsu: Sato Naho
Handmaid Misato: Itokazu Tomo
Pottery Yamashiro: Tokuyoshi Hiroyuki
Clowns: Teruya Atsunori
Tsuru: Yonamine Natsuki
Kame: Honma Chiaki
Kameju: Determined by audition
Selling mountain peaches: Ritsuko Kuwae/Meika Hanato/Nozomi Matayoshi
Mitsuyoshi: Matayoshi Hidekazu
Kada: Oshiro Kiyotaka
Action/Actors: Chibana Teru/Kamejima Kimika/Miyazato Yukazato/Yonamine Keiichi/Sakima Yuki/Yamauchi Kazumasa/Ireriki/Takeoka Eihiro/Matsuda Takumi
Karate: Kiyuna Ryo/Kinjo Arata/Uemura Takuya (Liu Weiryu Ryuhokai)
Ryukyu Dance: Ryukyu Dance Tamaki Ryu Izumi Kai
Chorus: Opera Okinawa Monogatari Ensemble
Orchestra: Ryukyu Symphony Orchestra

staffs
Art: Aragaki Hiroshi
Costume design/hair and makeup supervision: Oshimoto Sueko
Lighting design: Yukio Oshima
Deputy Conductor: Koroshi Moroyu
Chorus conductor: Nakamoto Hirotaka
Assistant Director: Yoko Hashizume/Hiroyuki Shimabukuro
Action supervision: Takara Kana
Stage manager: Maeda Akio/ Ohama Nobuhiro (stage assistant)

• Ryukyu Symphony Orchestra
• Kina Hibiki

Performance details

https://www.nahart.jp/stage/operaokinawastory/

Child actor audition details

https://www.nahart.jp/course/opera.audition/