Stage names:

Jitsukawa Enjaku I
Onoe Baikô
Nakamura Enjaku
Jitsukawa Enjirô I
Jitsukawa Enji

Real name: Amaboshi Shôhachi

Guilds: Kawachiya, Izutsuya, Otowaya

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Poetry names: Shôgan, Sensha, Baishi

Existence: 1831 ~ 18 September 1885

Connections:

Masters: Jitsukawa Gakujûrô II, Nakamura Fukusuke I

Adoptive father: Onoe Kikugorô IV

Son: Jitsukawa Enjaku II

grandsons: Jitsukawa Enjaku III

Adopted son: Jitsukawa Enjirô II

Disciples: Nakamura Ganjirô I, Jitsukawa Shôchô, Jitsukawa Enzaburô IV, Jitsukawa Enzaburô V, Jitsukawa Shinshirô

Family map: the Jitsukawa Clan

Career:

1831: born in Ôsaka in the district of Dôtonbori. Son of a carpenter, he was adopted at the age of 3 by Kawachiya Shôbê, the owner of the Kawachiya shibai jaya located within the Chikugo no Shibai.

1838: he started his career as a disciple of the actor Jitsukawa Enzaburô I, who gave him the name of Jitsukawa Enji in 1840.

1841: Enji stops acting for a few years.

1844: he was back on stage and received the name of Jitsukawa Enjirô.

1854: quarrel with Jitsukawa Enzaburô I. He left the Jitsukawa clan and became a travelling actor, nicknamed "Hadaka no Enji" ('Enji the naked').

10th lunar month of 1856: he settled in Edo and became disciple of Nakamura Fukusuke I, who gave him the name of Nakamura Enjaku.

1st lunar month of 1859: he was adopted by Onoe Kikugorô IV and received the name of Onoe Baikô.

28th day of the 6th lunar month of 1860 ^[1]: his adoptive father Onoe Kikugorô IV died.

1861: he went back to Ôsaka.

1862: his master Jitsukawa Enzaburô I forgave him and he was reintegrated in the Jitsukawa clan.

3rd lunar month of 1863: he took the name of Jitsukawa Enjaku I. Enjaku was in fact the haimyô used by both Jitsukawa Gakujûrô I and Jitsukawa Enzaburô I.

5th lunar month of 1866: Enjaku played at the Naka no Shibai the role of Danshichi Kurobê in the drama "Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami"; the roles of Tokubê and Sabu were played by Nakamura Komanosuke V and Jitsukawa Gakujûrô II.

22nd day of the 2nd lunar month of 1867 ^[2]: his master Jitsukawa Gakujûrô II died in Ôsaka.

9th lunar month of 1868: Enjaku played at the Kita-Horie Ichi-no-Gawa Shibai (Ôsaka) the role of Abe no Munetô in the "Sodehagi Saimon" scene of the drama "Ôshû Adachi-ga-Hara"; his stage partners were Nakamura Sôjûrô (Sodehagi), Arashi Hinasuke VI (Abe no Sadatô) and Nakamura Kanjaku III (Hachiman Tarô).

11th lunar month of 1868: Enjaku played at the Minamigawa no Shibai the role of Abe no Munetô in the "Sodehagi Saimon" scene of the drama "Ôshû Adachi-ga-Hara" (same casting as the Ôsaka performance).

1872: Enjaku became zagashira at the Chikugoza.

1st lunar month of 1872: Enjaku played at the Chikugo no Shibai the role of Hanzawa Rokurô in the drama "Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki"; his stage partners were Ôtani Tomoemon V (Akoya), Arashi Hinasuke VI (Shigetada) and Arashi Rikan IV (Iwanaga).

5th lunar month of 1872: Enjaku played at the Minamigawa no Shibai the role of Danshichi Kurobê in the drama "Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami"; the roles of Tokubê and Sabu were played by Ôtani Tomoemon V and Nakamura Shichigasuke.

29 August 1873: his adopted son Jitsukawa Enjirô II died.

October 1881: premiere at the Ebisuza of Katsu Genzô III's drama "Ogasawara Shorei no Oku no Te"; Enjaku played the roles of Okada Ryôsuke and Ogasawara Tôtômi-no-Kami [casting].

May 1883: Enjaku played at the Ebisuza (Ôsaka) the role of Shunkan in the drama "Heike Nyogo no Shima"; his stage partners were Arashi Kitsusaburô IV (Chidori), Jitsukawa Enzaburô III (Tanzaemon), Arashi Rishô II (Naritsune) and Ichikawa Aragorô III (Senoo Tarô).

October 1884: Enjaku played at the Ebisuza (Ôsaka) the roles of Yasuke and Kôemon in the drama "Tengajaya-mura"; his stage partners were Arashi Kitsusaburô IV (Iori), Nakamura Ganjirô I (Genjirô), Arashi Rikan IV (Motoemon) and Ichikawa Aragorô III (Tôma).

January 1885: Enjaku appeared on stage for the last time, at the Ebisuza (Ôsaka), where he played the role of Tokugawa Yoshinobu in the drama "Shima Chidori Nami no Konohana".

18 September 1885: Enjaku died in Ôsaka.

Comments:

Jitsukawa Enjaku I was a small man and his voice was not very good but he overcame it to become one of the most famous Kamigata tachiyaku actors of the Meiji era (along with Nakamura Sôjûrô and Arashi Rikan IV) and the founder of a great line of actors. His field of excellence was wagoto. He suffered a lot in his latter years because of lead poisoning, which crippled the use of his arms, but he kept on acting.

Jitsukawa Enjaku I's best roles: Kamiya Jihê ("Shinjû Ten no Amijima"), Kanaya Kingorô ("Kosan Kingorô), Kanô Shirojirô ("Chichi Morai") and Sanni no goroshichi ("Kari no Tayori").

[1] The 28th day of the 6th lunar month of the 1st year of the Man'en era was the 14th of August 1860 in the western calendar.

[2] The 22nd day of the 2nd lunar month of the 3rd year of the Keiô era was the 27th of March 1867 in the western calendar.

Jitsukawa Enjaku I playing the role of Danshichi Kurobê in the drama "Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami", which was staged in the 5th lunar month of 1872 in Kyôto at the Minamigawa no Shibai (print made by Nakai Yoshitaki)

Print made by Utagawa Hironobu in 1866

Print made by Hasegawa Munehiro in 1867

The Onoe Baikô line of actors

The Jitsukawa Enjaku line of actors