[8] The design was based on that of the Ōnishi Theatre of Osaka, and the construction costs, amounting to roughly 1000 ryō, were raised by the local geisha community.

In late June 1985, a troupe led by Nakamura Kichiemon II and Sawamura Sōjūrō IX performed the play Saikai Zakura Misome no Kiyomizu ("Reunion Amongst the Cherry Blossoms After the First Meeting at Kiyomizu") and dance drama Niwakajishi ("Spirited Lion"), at the Kanamaru-za, in a three-day stint following performances at the Naka-za in Osaka.

During the month when kabuki actors journey down from Tokyo or Kamigata (the Kyoto-Osaka area) and perform at the theatre, large banners bearing the crest of the Shōchiku company, and signboards with the stars' names are displayed.

The ones on the left and right are of normal size, but the central entrance, called the "mouse door" (ねずみ木戸, nezumi kido), is quite small and requires one to crouch in order to enter.

[15] A raised tatami platform called the sajiki runs along the left side of the theatre on both the ground and second floors; these were traditionally the most expensive seats, and still are today.

The outermost side walls of the theatre building, forming the opposite side of these corridors, consist of rain shutters known as madobuta ("window lids") or akarimado ("lighting windows") which can be raised and lowered by stagehands to let the sunlight in and control the lighting of the theatre, in order to create atmospheric effects, such as a dark and spooky atmosphere for certain elements of ghost plays.

"[20] The Kanamaru-za also boasts a manually operated rotating stage (mawari butai) and trap doors (seri),[21] though the "hell" (naraku) area underneath the stage from which these were operated was considered by many actors so unpleasant that it would often be avoided in favor of the corridors outside the sajiki (along the sides of the theatre) as a means for traveling around the theatre.