Morita Kanya XII (十二代目守田勘弥)[1] (9 November 1846 – 21 August 1897) was the leading Japanese theatre manager of the first half of the Meiji period, between 1868 and 1912.

It is said that as a young boy of 12 years, Morita Kanya XII ran to the port of Yokohama in an attempt to leave Japan and immigrate into the Western world for the sake of fulfilling his goal: becoming a millionaire.

During the time of government takeover (1868), the 22-year-old Morita Kanya XII became so obsessed with the Western world that he would eat sashimi (a traditional Japanese dish) with salt and pepper as opposed to soy sauce and wasabi.

When residents of the British Legation headed up by Thomas McClatchie presented Kanya with a theatre curtain times were uncertain with an undercurrent of anti Western sentiment amongst some feudal domains.

I am writing this letter to say that, as a consequence of the rebuild, I would like to extend an honourable invitation to you two young foreign residents in Tōkyō to the occasion of the opening of the Shintomiza on 7th June 1879 and to offer you, along with my fellow countrymen, our hospitality at an august speech welcoming you and an expression of appreciation.

I respectfully ask that I be provided with the details to be written and sent to me care of my friend the mother of Great Britain (Queen Victoria) Kanya replied...

There, the changes were addressed and Morita Kanya XII saw this as an opportunity to become a wealthy businessman with the hope to become the director of the future National Theatre of Japan.

(Yuichiro) The grand reopening ceremony took place on 7 June 1878 attended by the then Chief Minister Prince Sanjō Sanetomi (三条 実美).

Okamoto Keinosuke (later Kiyoshi - father of playwright Okamoto Kido - 岡本 綺堂)and friend of Morita Kanya, employed at the time as an interpreter at the British Legation, helped McClatchie to design a gift from the foreign residents for Shintomiza and on 3 February 1879, the theatre was presented with a curtain made from purple satin with intricate pine, bamboo and plum designs and Morita Kanya's katabami emblem.

(Skingle) The climax of Morita Kanya XII's career was in June 1879 when foreign aristocrat Crown Prince Heinrich of Germany and on 16 July 1879 U.S. President Ulysses Grant came to the Shintomi-za and was treated to a performance of Yoshi-iye.

Morita Kanya XII with his attempt to transform kKabuki into a more respectable art form eliminated the thrust stage, thereby adhering to a western convention.

Sharpe, 2002)) In 1878, Morita Kanya XII, following the government's demand for historical accuracy, produced the play "Okige no Kumo Harau Asagochi" which was based on a real recent uprising.

[5] He had a major financial crisis in which he lost 20,000 yen in the production of the play Hyoryu Kidan Seiyo-geki, which turned out to be very unsuccessful due to the poor acting of Western performers (Yuichiro).

[5] The last time Okamoto Kido and his father saw him was at the Bairin Tea House at the Kabukiza in Meiji 29 (1896) when they attended Ichikawa Danjūrō IX's revival performance of 'Shibaraku' (Wait a Minute), and 'Sukeroku'.