Ichikawa Ebizo V
Encyclopedia
Ichikawa Danjūrō VII was a Japanese kabuki
actor who specialized in male hero (tachiyaku) roles, said to be the greatest of the 19th century. He was responsible for the establishment of the Kabuki Jūhachiban
, a collection of the eighteen greatest plays in the repertoire.
V, Ichikawa Hakuen II and Ichikawa Shinnosuke I. In poetry circles, he often used the names Jukai (I), Sanshō, and Hakuen. Ebizō was also referred to in various circumstances as Ichikawa Jukai I, Matsumoto Kōshirō, Hatagaya Jūzō and Naritaya Shichizaemon II, though he did not formally use these names onstage. He was a member of the guild Naritaya, and could be referred to by this name (see yagō
)
's daughter, he was formally adopted into the kabuki lineages by Ichikawa Danjūrō VI. Through these connections, he could trace his lineage back to the first Danjūrō
.
Danjūrō VII had a number of sons who became actors, under the names Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII
, Ichikawa Danjūrō IX
, Ichikawa Ebizō VII, Ichikawa Ebizō VIII, Ichikawa Komazō VI, Ichikawa Saruzō I, and Ichikawa Kōzō. He also had a great many disciples.
in 1791, to the daughter of the famous Ichikawa Danjūrō V
; his father owned a shibai jaya (a teashop inside the theatre), and is said to have been a musician and low-ranking samurai
. He appeared onstage for the first time at the age of 3, as Ichikawa Shinnosuke, and took the name Ebizō V at the age of six.
The following year, he played the famous child roles of Emperor Antoku
and Rokudai in Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura
at the Nakamura-za, where he had made his premiere. His adopted father died in 1799, and Ebizō was officially designated to become the next Danjūrō, one of the greatest honors an actor could receive. After his grandfather died in 1806, Ebizō became Danjūrō VII the following year.
In the early 1810s, Danjūrō performed at the Ichimura-za
in a number of new plays by the great playwright Tsuruya Nanboku IV, and played the titular role of Sukeroku in Sukeroku Yukari no Edo Zakura for the first time in 1811, alongside Iwai Hanshirō V
and Matsumoto Kōshirō V. Upon its reopening in 1815, he moved to the Kawarazaki-za
, along with Hanshirō, Kōshirō, and Seki Sanjūrō II. He performed primarily there, and at the Ichimura-za, for the next several decades, until 1840. Hanshirō, Kōshirō, and the famous onnagata Segawa Kikunojō V remained his chief partners onstage throughout this period.
Danjūrō retook the name Ebizō at a grand shūmei naming ceremony in 1832, passing on the name to his nine-year old son, who now became Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII
. He played the role of Benkei in the 1840 premiere of Kanjinchō
at the Kawarazaki-za. Two years later, he was arrested for violating the sumptuary regulations
, and banished from Edo, his home destroyed.
Ebizō then performed in Kyoto and Osaka for the next eight years or so, alongside the likes of Ichikawa Kōdanji IV and Arashi Rikan III. After returning to Edo and to the Kawarazaki-za in 1850, Ebizō went on tour to Kamigata
again in 1854, performing in Nagoya, Kyoto, and Osaka. That same year, upon Ebizō's arrival in Osaka, his son Danjūrō VIII committed suicide in the inn they were staying at.
Ebizō remained in the Kamigata area for several years, and then returned to Edo once more. At a performance at the Nakamura-za in January 1859, he began to feel ill, and left the stage for several weeks. That March, he was scheduled to perform as Soga no Iruka
in Imoseyama Onna Teikin, but fell ill once more and died on the 23rd.
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
actor who specialized in male hero (tachiyaku) roles, said to be the greatest of the 19th century. He was responsible for the establishment of the Kabuki Jūhachiban
Kabuki Juhachiban
The Kabuki Jūhachiban , or Eighteen Best Kabuki Plays, is a set of kabuki plays, strongly associated with the Ichikawa Danjūrō line of actors ever since their premieres. These works were chosen and assembled as "the eighteen" by actor Ichikawa Danjūrō VII . The pieces were considered to be...
, a collection of the eighteen greatest plays in the repertoire.
Names
Like most kabuki actors, and many artists, of his time, Danjūrō VII had a number of names, including Ichikawa EbizōIchikawa Ebizo
Ichikawa Ebizō is a stage name taken on by a series of Kabuki actors of the Ichikawa family. Most of these were blood relatives, though some were adopted into the family...
V, Ichikawa Hakuen II and Ichikawa Shinnosuke I. In poetry circles, he often used the names Jukai (I), Sanshō, and Hakuen. Ebizō was also referred to in various circumstances as Ichikawa Jukai I, Matsumoto Kōshirō, Hatagaya Jūzō and Naritaya Shichizaemon II, though he did not formally use these names onstage. He was a member of the guild Naritaya, and could be referred to by this name (see yagō
YAGO
YAGO was an early LAN startup acquired by Cabletron Systems in the mid-1990s, fueling its growth into Gigabit Ethernet switching and ultimately being re-spun off into the entity Riverstone Networks....
)
Lineage
The son of Ichikawa Danjūrō VIchikawa Danjuro V
Ichikawa Danjūrō V , also known as Ichikawa Ebizō, was one of the most famous and popular Kabuki actors of all time. Throughout his career, Danjūrō would hold some of the highest ranks in the hyōbanki, an annual Edo publications which evaluated actors and performances...
's daughter, he was formally adopted into the kabuki lineages by Ichikawa Danjūrō VI. Through these connections, he could trace his lineage back to the first Danjūrō
Ichikawa Danjūrō I
Ichikawa Danjūrō I was an early kabuki actor in Japan. He remains today one of the most famous of all kabuki actors and is considered one of the most influential...
.
Danjūrō VII had a number of sons who became actors, under the names Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII
Ichikawa Danjuro VIII
Ichikawa Danjuro VIII was a Japanese actor in the 19th century. He is known for his role as Prince Mitsuuji in the play Genji Moyo Furisode Hinagata. He played the role of Prince Mitsuuji in the first production in 1852...
, Ichikawa Danjūrō IX
Ichikawa Danjuro IX
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX was one of the most successful and famous Kabuki actors of the Meiji period ....
, Ichikawa Ebizō VII, Ichikawa Ebizō VIII, Ichikawa Komazō VI, Ichikawa Saruzō I, and Ichikawa Kōzō. He also had a great many disciples.
Life and career
He was born in EdoEdo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
in 1791, to the daughter of the famous Ichikawa Danjūrō V
Ichikawa Danjuro V
Ichikawa Danjūrō V , also known as Ichikawa Ebizō, was one of the most famous and popular Kabuki actors of all time. Throughout his career, Danjūrō would hold some of the highest ranks in the hyōbanki, an annual Edo publications which evaluated actors and performances...
; his father owned a shibai jaya (a teashop inside the theatre), and is said to have been a musician and low-ranking samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
. He appeared onstage for the first time at the age of 3, as Ichikawa Shinnosuke, and took the name Ebizō V at the age of six.
The following year, he played the famous child roles of Emperor Antoku
Emperor Antoku
Emperor Antoku was the 81st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1180 through 1185. During this time, the imperial family was involved in a bitter struggle between warring clans...
and Rokudai in Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura
Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura
Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura , or Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees, is a Japanese play, one of the three most popular and famous in the Kabuki repertoire...
at the Nakamura-za, where he had made his premiere. His adopted father died in 1799, and Ebizō was officially designated to become the next Danjūrō, one of the greatest honors an actor could receive. After his grandfather died in 1806, Ebizō became Danjūrō VII the following year.
In the early 1810s, Danjūrō performed at the Ichimura-za
Ichimura-za
The ' was a major kabuki theatre in the Japanese capital of Edo , for much of the Edo period, and into the 20th century. It was first opened in 1634 and was run by members of the Ichimura family for much of the following nearly three centuries before being destroyed by fire in 1932 and not...
in a number of new plays by the great playwright Tsuruya Nanboku IV, and played the titular role of Sukeroku in Sukeroku Yukari no Edo Zakura for the first time in 1811, alongside Iwai Hanshirō V
Iwai Hanshiro V
was a Japanese kabuki performer, known both for his own work and for his place in the lineage of a family of kabuki actors in Edo during the Edo period. He was the son of Iwai Hanshiro IV...
and Matsumoto Kōshirō V. Upon its reopening in 1815, he moved to the Kawarazaki-za
Kawarazaki-za
The ' was one of the major kabuki theatres in Edo during the Edo period and into the Meiji period. Not being one of the four theatres formally licensed by the Tokugawa shogunate, the theatre was largely inactive for long stretches of time, operating only when the Morita-za, facing financial...
, along with Hanshirō, Kōshirō, and Seki Sanjūrō II. He performed primarily there, and at the Ichimura-za, for the next several decades, until 1840. Hanshirō, Kōshirō, and the famous onnagata Segawa Kikunojō V remained his chief partners onstage throughout this period.
Danjūrō retook the name Ebizō at a grand shūmei naming ceremony in 1832, passing on the name to his nine-year old son, who now became Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII
Ichikawa Danjuro VIII
Ichikawa Danjuro VIII was a Japanese actor in the 19th century. He is known for his role as Prince Mitsuuji in the play Genji Moyo Furisode Hinagata. He played the role of Prince Mitsuuji in the first production in 1852...
. He played the role of Benkei in the 1840 premiere of Kanjinchō
Kanjincho
Kanjinchō is a Japanese kabuki play by Namiki Gohei III, based on the Noh play Ataka. It is one of the most popular plays in the modern kabuki repertory....
at the Kawarazaki-za. Two years later, he was arrested for violating the sumptuary regulations
Sumptuary law
Sumptuary laws are laws that attempt to regulate habits of consumption. Black's Law Dictionary defines them as "Laws made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, particularly against inordinate expenditures in the matter of apparel, food, furniture, etc." Traditionally, they were...
, and banished from Edo, his home destroyed.
Ebizō then performed in Kyoto and Osaka for the next eight years or so, alongside the likes of Ichikawa Kōdanji IV and Arashi Rikan III. After returning to Edo and to the Kawarazaki-za in 1850, Ebizō went on tour to Kamigata
Kamigata
Kamigata is a region of Japan referring to the cities of Kyoto and Osaka; the term is used particularly when discussing elements of Edo period urban culture such as ukiyo-e and kabuki, and when making a comparison to the urban culture of the Edo/Tokyo region.Kabuki, ukiyo-e, and many of the other...
again in 1854, performing in Nagoya, Kyoto, and Osaka. That same year, upon Ebizō's arrival in Osaka, his son Danjūrō VIII committed suicide in the inn they were staying at.
Ebizō remained in the Kamigata area for several years, and then returned to Edo once more. At a performance at the Nakamura-za in January 1859, he began to feel ill, and left the stage for several weeks. That March, he was scheduled to perform as Soga no Iruka
Soga no Iruka
was a statesman in the Asuka Period of Japan.He was a son of Soga no Emishi. He was assassinated by Prince Naka-no-Ōe though he tried to murder Prince Yamashiro, and to rule the emperor family. Emishi also committed suicide soon after his son's death, and the main branch of the Soga clan went...
in Imoseyama Onna Teikin, but fell ill once more and died on the 23rd.
See also
- ShūmeiShumeiShūmei are grand naming ceremonies held in Kabuki theatre. Most often, a number of actors will participate in a single ceremony, taking on new stage-names....