Stage names:
Onoe Baikô VI
Onoe Eizaburô V
Onoe Einosuke I
Other name: Nishikawa Einosuke
Real name: Terashima Einosuke
Guild: Otowaya
Line number: ROKUDAIME (VI)
Existence: 15th day of the 10th lunar month of 1870 ~ 8 November 1934
Connections:
Father: Onoe Chôjirô
Adoptive father: Onoe Kikugorô V
Son: Onoe Eizaburô VII
Grandsons: Onoe Eizaburô VIII, Onoe Taijirô
Disciple: Onoe Baichô IV
Career:
15th day of the 10th lunar month of 1870: born in Nagoya in the district of Fushimi-chô.
August 1876: he becomes disciple of the Buyô Master Nishikawa Koisaburô, receiving the name of Nishikawa Einosuke and playing at the Shinmoriza (Nagoya) the role of Ushiwakamaru in the dance "Gojô Bashi".
1882: the young Einosuke is adopted by Onoe Kikugorô V.
January 1885: he takes the name of Onoe Einosuke I.
February 1885: Einosuke takes part in the opening ceremony of the Chitoseza [more details]. Premiere at the Chitoseza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Suitengû Megumi no Fukagawa"; Einosuke plays the role of Kôbei's daughter Oshimo [casting].
March 1886: première at the Chitoseza of Kawatake Mokuami's drama "Mekura Nagaya Ume-ga-Kagatobi"; Einosuke plays the role of Oasa [casting].
May 1891: Onoe Einosuke I takes the name of Onoe Eizaburô V at the Shintomiza (Tôkyô).
November 1891: the title "Oto ni Kiku Tenjiku Tokubei" is used for the first time, in Tôkyô at the Fukanoza; Eizaburô plays the role of Sanza's wife Katsuragi [casting].
July 1892: premiere at the Kabukiza of the drama "Kaidan Botan Dôrô", adapted to Kabuki from a famous Rakugo story created by San'yûtei Enchô; Eizaburô plays the roles of Otsuyu and Otsuyu's ghost [casting].
September 1892: Onoe Kikugorô V and Eizaburô achieve a great success at the Kabukiza in the drama "Yowa Nasake Ukina no Yokogushi". The father and the son play respectively the roles of Yosaburô and Otomi.
September 1893: tour in Nagoya with the troupe led by Onoe Kikugorô V.
October 1902: premiere at the Kabukiza of Enokido Kenji's drama "Ninjô Banashi Bunshichi Mottoi"; Eizaburô plays the role of Chôbei's wife Okane [casting].
March 1903: great shûmei at the Kabukiza for the Otowaya guild; the actors Onoe Ushinosuke II, Onoe Eizaburô V and Onoe Eizô respectively take the names of Onoe Baikô VI, Onoe Kikugorô VI and Onoe Eizaburô VI [more details].
November 1908: revival at the Kabukiza of the kabuki jûhachiban drama "Kagekiyo"; Baikô plays the role of Kagekiyo's wife Akoya [casting].
April 1910: premiere at the Kabukiza of "Yuki no Yûbe Iriya no Azemichi", a few scenes taken from "Kumo ni Magou Ueno no Hatsuhana" focusing on Kataoka Naojirô and his lover Michitose and staged independently from the rest of the play; Baikô plays the role of Michitose [casting].
March 1911: opening of the Imperial Theater. The three leading actors of the new Kabuki troupe based in this theater are Onoe Baikô VI (onnagata), Ichikawa Komazô VIII (tachiyaku) and Sawamura Sôjûrô VII (wagotoshi).
April 1912: premiere at the Naniwaza of Okamoto Kidô's "Heikegani", which stars Sawamura Sôjûrô VII and Baikô.
September 1914: premiere at the Imperial Theater of the dance "Onatsu Kyôran". The roles of Onatsu and the pack-horse driver are played by Baikô and Matsumoto Kôshirô VII.
November 1922: Baikô plays at the Imperial Theater the role of the courtesan Yûgiri in the drama "Kuruwa Bunshô"; the role of Fujiya Izaemon is played by Kataoka Nizaemon XI.
May 1926: his son Onoe Eizaburô VII dies.
July 1927: premiere at the Kabukiza of "Shunshoku Ume Goyomi", an adaptation to Kabuki by the playwright Kimura Kinka of Tamenaga Shunsui's 1833 novel; Baikô plays the role of the geisha Yonehachi [casting].
January 1934: Baikô plays at the Kabukiza the role of Nureginu in the drama "Honchô Nijûshikô"; his stage partners are Onoe Kikugorô VI (Princess Yaegaki) and Ichimura Uzaemon XV (Katsuyori).
Comments:
Onoe Baikô VI was one of the best onnagata of the Meiji, Taishô and the first years of the Shôwa eras. He costarred stage giants like Onoe Kikugorô V, Kataoka Nizaemon XI, Matsumoto Kôshirô VII or Onoe Kikugorô VI. The duo Onoe Baikô VI-Ichimura Uzaemon XV was extremely popular.
"Baikô, following the traditions of the Onoe family, for he is the grandson of the third Kikugorô, and was adopted by the fifth, is clever in the weird, and never pleases so much as when he plays an unearthly woman, ghost, or demon. He is particularly successful as a woman of the people, but it is as a dancer that he has endeared himself to all Tôkyô. The grace of his movements, the power of suggestion in his descriptive dances, fill all who witness them with admiration." (Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan")
Onoe Baikô VI playing the role of the courtesan Okon in the drama "Ise Ondo Koi no Netaba" (print made by Natori Shunsen in 1929)
Print made by Utagawa Kunisada in 1892
Print made by Toyohara Kunichika in 1897
The Onoe Baikô line of actors
The Onoe Eizaburô line of actors