ICHIKAWA KODANJI IV

1822: following a quarrel with his master Ichikawa Danjûrô VII, he went to Nagoya with his father. He received the support of Nakayama Okezô, who introduced him to Ichikawa Kodanji III who took him as a disciple and gave him the name of Ichikawa Yonezô III.

1822 ~ 1824: he performed in kodomo shibai in Matsuzaka or Ise.

8th lunar month of 1829: Ichikawa Yonezô III took the name of Ichikawa Yonejûrô I in Kyôto.

11th lunar month of 1843: reconciliation in Ôsaka with his first master Ichikawa Ebizô V; Yonejûrô played at the Kado no Shibai the roles of Yae and Sukune Tarô in the drama "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami".

Spring 1844: Ichikawa Yonejûrô I took the name of Ichikawa Kodanji IV at the Kado no Shibai, performing in the new year ni-no-kawari drama "Keisei Ishikawa-zome".

2nd lunar month of 1847: Kodanji played at the Kado no Shibai the role of Tadanobu in the drama "Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura"; his stage partners were Ichikawa Ebizô V (Yoshitsune), Arashi Kichisaburô III (Yokawa no Zenji Kakuhan) and Arashi Rikaku II (Shizuka Gozen). He performed the same role in the same play in Kyôto at the Kitagawa no Shibai in the 5th lunar month.

Fall 1847: Kodanji went back to Edo.

11th lunar month of 1847: Kodanji performed at the Ichimuraza in the drama "Genke Hachidai Megumi no Tsuwamono"; he also played all the roles of a 7-role hengemono entitled "Shiki Utsushi Tosae no Futsutsuka" [more details].

9th lunar month of 1850: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the drama "Minoriyoshi Kogane no Kikuzuki"; Kodanji played the role of the koshimoto Okiku [more details].

4th lunar month of 1851: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the Tokiwazu-based dance "Kioi Jishi Kabuki no Hanakago", commonly called "Kioi Jishi", starring Bandô Takesaburô I, Onoe Kikujirô II, Iwai Kumesaburô III and Kodanji.

8th lunar month of 1851: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Segawa Jokô III's drama "Higashiyama Sakura Sôshi" (commonly called "Sakura Giminden"); Kodanji played the roles of Asakura Tôgo, Sumahei and Shinonome [casting].

3rd lunar month of 1854: premiere at the Kawarasakiza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Miyakodori Nagare no Shiranami"; Kodanji played the roles of Shinobu no Sôta (in reality Yamada Rokurô, a retainer of the Yoshida clan) and Minezô [casting].

7th lunar month of 1856: Kodanji played at the Ichimuraza the three major male roles of the classic "Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura", namely Tadanobu, Tomomori and Gonta.

9th lunar month of 1856: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's 9-act drama "Tsuta Momiji Utsunoya Tôge"; the 2 leading stars were Kodanji (the blind masseur Bun'ya and the thief Niza) and Bandô Kamezô I (Itamiya Jûbê).

11th lunar month of 1856: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Shôchikubai Yuki no Akebono"; Kodanji played the role of Yaoya Oshichi [casting]. Premiere at the Ichimuraza of the dance "Joro no Makoto Osada no Chûkô"; Kodanji played the role of the tengû [casting].

1st lunar month of 1857: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Nezumi Komon Haru no Shingata" (commonly called "Nezumi Kozô"); Kodanji played the roles of the tôzoku Inaba Kôzô (in reality Yosobê's son Yokichi), Izumi no Koshirô Chikahira, Takashima Beizan (in reality Inaba Kôzô) and the bokusha Sazen (in reality Inaba Kôzô) [casting].

7th lunar month of 1857: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Ami Moyô Tôro no Kikukiri" (commonly called "Kozaru Shichinosuke"); Kodanji played the roles of Kozaru Shichinosuke and Nakamanjiya Yahê [casting].

3rd lunar month of 1858: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Edo Zakura Kiyomizu Seigen"; the nibanme of this drama was now entitled "Kurotegumi Kuruwa no Tatehiki" in the Kabuki repertoire (commonly called "Kurotegumi Sukeroku"); Kodanji played the roles of Seigen and Sukeroku [more details].

2nd lunar month of 1859: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Kosode Soga Azami no Ironui" (commonly called "Izayoi Seishin"); Kodanji played the roles of the Ômi no Kotôta, the Gokurakuji shoke Seishin (later the thief Oniazami Seikichi), Tsumagi Hayanojô, Bikkuri Hyôzô and Kudô Saemon Suketsune [casting].

23rd day of the 3rd lunar month of 1859^[2]: his first master Ichikawa Ebizô V died.

9th lunar month of 1859: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's Kiyomoto-based dance "Jitsugetsusei Chûya no Oriwake", commonly called "Ryûsei"; the leading roles were played by Kawarasaki Gonjûrô I, Iwai Kumesaburô III and Kodanji.

1st lunar month of 1860: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Sannin Kichisa Kuruwa no Hatsugai"; Kodanji played the roles of Oshô Kichisa and Kiya Bunri [casting].

3rd lunar month of 1860: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Kagamiyama Gonichi no Iwafuji"; Kodanji played the roles of the ghost of Iwafuji and Torii Matasuke [casting].

7th lunar month of 1860: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Hachiman Matsuri Yomiya no Nigiwai" (commonly called "Chijimiya Shinsuke"); Kodanji played the role of Shinsuke [casting].

5th lunar month of 1861: premiere at the Moritaza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Ryû to Mimasu Takane no Kumokiri"; Kodanji played the roles of the tôzoku Kumokiri Nizaemon, the ingamonoshi Nozarashi Kobê, the daiku Sandan no Kisanta, the tôzoku Yamaneko Sanji and Kikyôya Gorobê [casting].

8th lunar month of 1861: premiere at the Moritaza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Sakura Sôshi Gonichi no Bundan", a revised version of Segawa Jokô III's drama "Higashiyama Sakura Sôshi"; Kodanji played the roles of Asakura Tôgo, Katagiri Saizô and Kôzen [casting].

10th lunar month of 1861: premiere at the Moritaza of Segawa Jokô III's drama "Zôho Futatsu Domoe"; Kodanji played the roles of the farmer Yonesaku and Ishikawa Goemon [casting].

5th lunar month of 1862: premiere at the Moritaza of the drama "Shinpan Ukina no Yomiuri"; Kodanji played the roles of the bantô Zenroku and Nozaki-mura no Kyûsaku [more details].

8th lunar month of 1862: premiere at the Moritaza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Kanzen Chôaku Nozoki Garakuri"; Kodanji played the roles of Murai Chôan and the Iseya bantô Kyûhachi [casting].
Revival at the Moritaza of the drama "Miyajima no Danmari", with a new script written by Kawatake Shinshichi II and starring Kodanji in the leading roles of the courtesan Ukifune and the thief Kesatarô.

2nd lunar month of 1864: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Soga Moyô Tateshi no Goshozome"; Kodanji played the roles of Gosho no Gorozô and Yuri-no-Kata [casting].

11th lunar month of 1864: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Koharunagi Okitsu Shiranami" (commonly called "Kogitsune Reiza"); Kodanji played the role of Nippon Daemon [casting].

2nd lunar month of 1866: Kodanji appeared on stage for the last time, at the Moritaza, playing the roles of Oniô Shinzaemon, Kudô Saemon Suketsune, the ghost of Kawazu Saburô Sukeyasu and Chichibu no Shôji Shigetada in the new year sogamono drama "Fuji to Mimasu Suehiro Soga". Premiere at the Moritaza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Fune-he Uchikomu Hashima no Shiranami" (commonly called "Ikake Matsu"); Kodanji played the role of the ikakeya Matsugorô [more details].

8th day of the 5th lunar month of 1866^[1]: Kodanji died in Edo.

Comments:

Ichikawa Kodanji IV was a short-sized actor, who had none of the physical features, which are essential for Kabuki stars (great voice, fine eyes, beautiful face) but became one of the best tachiyaku of the nineteenth century. He excelled in hayagawari and was a pionner for many keren like spectacular chûnori. It is his association with the leading playwright Kawatake Mokuami, which made him of interest in the history of pre-Meiji Kabuki. The two formed a very close partnership and Mokuami wrote some of his best sewamono for Ichikawa Kodanji IV.

"Ichikawa Kodanji IV was the son of a vendor of hinawa (the match cord used for lighting pipe tobacco)-an occupation held in low esteem even in theater society. Once, brutally kicked by a superior^[3], young Kodanji fell headlong from a building's second story and lost consciousness. After a wretched childhood in Edo, Kodanji pursued his artistic apprenticeship during an adolescence in the Kyôto-Ôsaka region. As a full-fledged actor, during the mid-1800s he took back with him to the Edo troupes the realism and stylization of the western theater style. He was not favored by nature with an attractive physical appearance, but the feverish intensity of his art in the title roles of Chijimiya Shinsuke, Ikake Matsu, or Sakura Sôgo exceedingly true to life. In 1866, during his performance in "Ikake Matsu", a notice from the office of the Edo magistrate decreed: "During recent years, dramas depicting current life have probed too far into human feelings. Since this tendency is detrimental to the manners of society, plays should reflect human feelings as little as possible." At this, Kodanji could only grieve: he had no way to express his resentment, nor any choice but to give up acting. The very next day his health began a rapid decline; death followed shortly at age fifty-five, at the very pinnacle of his career." (Masakatsu Gunji in "Tokugawa Japan")

[1] The 8th day of the 5th lunar month of the 2nd year of the Keiô era was the 20th of June 1866 in the western calendar.

[2] The 23rd day of the 3rd lunar month of the 6th year of the Ansei era was the 25th of April 1859 in the western calendar.

[3] This superior was the Kamigata actor Arashi Tokusaburô III and the incident occured in 1842 at the Takeda no Shibai. Being ill, Kodanji was late in taking his cue. Arashi Tokusaburô III chastised him for the offence by striking him with a zôri, which caused him to fall down a stairway behind the scenes. He never forgot this incident, and later, in the 7th lunar month of 1844 in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai, when he had become successful and was performing with Arashi Rikan III in the drama "Keisei Shina Sadame", he cleverly inserted a reference to the zôri incident into his lines.

Ichikawa Kodanji IV playing the role of Danshichi Kurobê in the drama "Hana Shôbû Otoko Kagami", which was staged in the 5th lunar month of 1855 at the Nakamuraza (print made by Utagawa Toyokuni III)

Prints & Illustrations

Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni in 1854

Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni in 1856

Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni in 1858

Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni in 1859

Print made by Utagawa Kunisada in 1861

Print made by Utagawa Yoshiiku in 1862

The Ichikawa Yonezô line of actors

The Ichikawa Yonejûrô line of actors

The Ichikawa Kodanji line of actors