Stage names:
Ichikawa Jukai III
Ichikawa Sumizô VI
Ichikawa Tôshô
Ichikawa Komanosuke
Ichikawa Takamaru
Real name: Ôta Shôzô
Guild: Naritaya
Line number: SANDAIME (III)
Existence: 12 July 1886 ~ 3 April 1971
Connections:
Master: Ichikawa Kodanji V
Adoptive father: Ichikawa Sumizô V
Brother: Ichikawa Yonezaemon
Adopted son: Ichikawa Raizô VIII
Career:
12 July 1886: born in Tôkyô in the district of Nihombashi.
May 1894: he becomes a disciple of Ichikawa Kodanji V and makes his first stage appearance, at the Meijiza, where he receives the name of Ichikawa Takamaru.
January 1903: Ichikawa Takamaru takes the name of Ichikawa Komanosuke.
1905: he is adopted by Ichikawa Sumizô V.
May 1905: Ichikawa Komanosuke takes the name of Ichikawa Tôshô.
7 May 1906: his adoptive father Ichikawa Sumizô V dies.
March 1907: Ichikawa Tôshô takes the name of Ichikawa Sumizô VI.
September 1909: revival at the Meijiza of the drama "Kenuki", a long-forgotten play belonging to the kabuki jûhachiban; Sumizô plays the role of Hata no Mimbu [casting].
May 1910: revival at the Meijiza of the drama "Narukami", a long-forgotten play belonging to the kabuki jûhachiban; Sumizô plays the role of the priest Kokuunbô (the "black cloud bonze") [casting].
May 1911: premiere at the Meijiza of the Okamoto Kidô's drama "Shuzenji Monogatari"; Sumizô plays the role of Katsura [casting].
October 1914: premiere at the Meijiza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Soga Monogatari"; Sumizô plays the role of Echigo no Zenjibô [casting].
September 1915: premiere at the Hongôza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Toribeyama Shinjû"; Sumizô plays the role of Sakata Genzaburô [casting].
February 1916: premiere at the Hongôza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Banchô Sarayashiki"; Sumizô plays the role of Hanaregoma Shirobei [casting].
August 1917: the play "Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami" is produced at the Kabukiza for the first time; Sumizô plays the role of Okaji [casting].
6 May 1922: his master Ichikawa Kodanji V dies.
February 1925: Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Kachi Zumô Ukina no Hanabure", commonly called "Shirafuji Genta", is revived at the Hongôza, under the supervision of the writer Nagai Kafû; Sumizô plays the roles of Tsugawa Mondo and Tsugawa Katsujirô [casting].
April 1932: premiere at the Kabukiza of Mayama Seika's "Yoritomo no Shi"; Sumizô plays the role of Hatakeyama Shigeyasu [casting].
November 1938: premiere at the Kabukiza of "Nambuzaka no Yuki Wakare", the sixth play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura"; Sumizô plays the role of Hagura Itsuki [casting].
February 1949: Ichikawa Sumizô VI and his nephew Ichikawa Danjirô respectively take the names of Ichikawa Jukai III and Ichikawa Sumizô VII at the Ôsaka Kabukiza.
March 1958: Jukai takes part in the final Kabuki performance at the Ôsaka Kabukiza [more details].
1960: Jukai receives the prestigious title of Living National Treasure (ningen kokuhô in Japanese).
Comments:
Ichikawa Jukai III was an outstanding tachiyaku actor, excelling in nimaime roles. From the end of the Meiji era to the first decade of the Shôwa era, he was an active member of the troupe led by Ichikawa Sadanji II, which was involved in the creations of many Shinkabuki dramas, written by playwrights like Mayama Seika or Okamoto Kidô. After the death of Ichikawa Sadanji II, he worked a lot with Ichikawa Ennosuke II for the creation of new plays. Then, he went to Ôsaka in 1943 and made a very successful duo with his stage partner Bandô Jusaburô III, which was nicknamed Futatsu Kotobuki, "The Two Kotobuki", because both actors had the ideogram Kotobuki (the meaning of this word is "congratulations" and another of its reading is Ju) in their first name. He was born in Tôkyô but spent enough time in the Kamigata Kabuki world to be labeled as a Kamigata actor. He became a great fukeyaku in his latter years.
Ichikawa Jukai III's best roles: Hankurô ("Toribeyama Shinjû"), Kimura Nagato-no-Kami ("Kiri Hitoha"), Tsunatoyo ("Ohama Goten") and Yoriie ("Yoritomo no Shi").
Jukai was a haimyô used by both Ichikawa Danjûrô VII (Ichikawa Jukai I) and Ichikawa Danjûrô IX (Ichikawa Jukai II). Ichikawa Jukai III is in fact the first actor to really hold this name.
Ichikawa Jukai III playing the role of Kimoto Shigenari in a print made by Natori Shunsen