Awazu Enbujo Theater

A Hot Spring Town Theatre of 1933

The Awazu Enbujo Theater (粟津演舞場) is a theatre of about 1933 in the centre of Awazu Onsen, Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on November 29, 2016 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency records a two-storey timber building of 319 square metres with a tiled roof, altered about 1943 and in 2014; registration number 17-0261.

Built as a Convention Venue

The theatre was built as the venue for the national innkeepers' association convention held at Awazu Onsen in 1933 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). According to Komatsu City, it was commissioned by the Awazu Onsen promotion association and designed by an architect from Komatsu.

Komatsu City notes that it served as a theatre for only ten years, until 1943; in the war it became a munitions workshop and later lodgings, staff housing and a store. Volunteers began surveys and restoration in 2007, and a reopening performance in April 2014 brought it back into use as a theatre.

Why It Was Registered

The Agency notes that it shows the bustle of the hot spring town of the time. Komatsu City describes it as a theatre that keeps the look of a traditional playhouse.

What to Look For

Look for the decorative front, with the gable of the large hip-and-gable roof flanked by projecting gabled wings and a gently curved porch roof at the centre (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Komatsu City notes that the interior was heavily altered during its wartime use, but the playhouse exterior survives well.

Visiting

The theatre is used for performances and events (Komatsu City). Check event listings for times when the interior can be seen.