Kabuki producer starts online streaming for foreign fans

TOKYO — Entertainment company Shochiku has launched a Kabuki video streaming service targeting audiences outside Japan in a bid to expand its overseas fan base for the traditional Japanese performing art and lure foreign tourists to Kabuki theaters in the country.

Shochiku’s Kabuki On Demand stream offers three famous plays for audiences in Taiwan, Australia, the U.S., Canada, Britain, Spain, France, Germany and Italy. Launched in November, the streaming service is partly aimed at preventing proliferation of illegally uploaded Kabuki videos.