Japan 1983

Cats has played near continuously in Japan since 1983, moving location nearly every year. The production is hugely popular within Japanese culture.

Production Specifics
The Japanese production was one of the first productions worldwide. It was based off the Original London Production. It has developed independently over the years without much influence from more western productions, leading to a strongly Japanese influenced production that still maintains a replica status.

One unique element of the Japanese production is its ensemble characters, which differ significantly not only in design but in role compared to most other productions of Cats. There is no Alonzo; his role is covered by two ensemble characters, Gilbert and Rumpus Cat. Gilbert's design is an interpetation of the Broadway Golden Alonzo costume; while Rumpus Cat has had various designs throughout the history of the production, in recent years his costume designed has resembled that of the Black and White Alonzo costume. Admetus or Plato are not present in the production, while Macavity is an ensemble character. The show includes both Sillabub and Jemima, with Sillabub as the featured singer and Jemima as an ensemble character. The roles of the Twins, usually Coricopat and Tantomile, are instead Cassandra and Tumblebrutus in this production, with Tantomile wearing the smooth brown costume design normally identified as Cassandra. Cassandra and Tumblebrutus are featured as pair dancers; however, they don't have near-identical costumes (or, at least, haven't had for some length of the production's history), as is customary in most productions worldwide.

According the the Japanese production website, Jemima is featured as one of the Gumbie Trio (with Jellylorum and Cassandra) and sings the "Moonlight" refrain during "The Moments of Happiness", Coricopat and Victoria dance the Invitation to the Jellicle Ball, Cassandra and Tumblebrutus dance a solo during "Moments of Happiness", while Sillabub is the youngest kitten and is the one who sings "Memory" with Grizabella.

Venues

 * Tokyo - 11/1983 - 11/1984
 * Osaka - 03/1985 - 04/1986
 * Tokyo - 10/1986 - 05/1987
 * Nagoya - 11/1988 - 11/1989
 * Fukuoka - 04/1990 - 11/1990
 * Sapporo - 05/1991 - 04/1992
 * Osaka - 07/1992 - 09/1993
 * Tokyo - 01/1995 - 12/1996
 * Sapporo - 04/1997 - 03/1998
 * Fukuoka - 07/1998 - 05/1999
 * Nagoya - 07/1999 - 2000
 * Osaka - 2001 - 01/03
 * Shizuoka - 04/2003 - 07/2003
 * Hiroshima - 08/2003 - 11/2003
 * Sendai - 12/2003 - 05/2004
 * Tokyo - 11/2004 - 05/2009
 * Yokohama - 11/2009 - 11/2012
 * Hiroshima - 12/2012 - 03/2013
 * Sendai - 04/2013 - 08/2013
 * Shizuoka - 09/2013
 * Fukuoka - 05/2014 - 10/2014
 * Sapporo - 01/2015 - 01/2016

Costume Designs
The Japanese production has a distinctive look influenced by Japanese culture, and has developed separate from other productions worldwide. This has led to unique characters and designs that can be hard to relate to the more familiar western names and designs.