Stage names:

Ichikawa Kudanji IV
Ichikawa Michiyuki
Bandô Shinsha IV
Bandô Takeshirô

Other name:

Akimoto Michiyuki

Real name: Suzuki Michiyuki

Guilds: Naritaya, Otowaya

Line number: YODAIME (IV)

Birthday: 4 April 1972

Connections:

Masters: Ichikawa Ebizô XI, Bandô Takesaburô V

Career:

September 1998: first stage appearance, at the Shôchikuza, where he receives the name of Bandô Takeshirô and plays a minor role in the drama "Yamato Takeru".

April 2005: Bandô Takeshirô takes the name of Bandô Shinsha IV at the Shôchikuza, playing the role of Sugiômaru in the drama "Kurumabiki".

August 2009: 2nd Kabuki program with Kataoka Ainosuke as zagashira at the Eirakukan, a renovated traditional theater built in the city of Toyooka (prefecture of Hyôgo) [more details].

November 2010: 3rd Kabuki program with Kataoka Ainosuke as zagashira at the Eirakukan, a renovated traditional theater built in the city of Toyooka (prefecture of Hyôgo) [more details].

November 2012: 5th Kabuki program with Kataoka Ainosuke as zagashira at the Eirakukan, a renovated traditional theater built in the city of Toyooka (prefecture of Hyôgo) [more details].

November 2013: 6th Kabuki program with Kataoka Ainosuke as zagashira at the Eirakukan, a renovated traditional theater built in the city of Toyooka (prefecture of Hyôgo) [more details].

2006: Shinsha passes the nadai exam.

January 2014: Shinsha plays at the Shôchikuza the role of the stage assistant in the dance "Ayatsuri Sanbasô".

February 2014 ~ August 2014: no Kabuki performance; he is no more a disciple of Bandô Takesaburô V.

September 2014: he becomes disciple of Ichikawa Ebizô XI and receives the name of Ichikawa Michiyuki.

January 2015: Ichikawa Michiyuki takes the name of Ichikawa Kudanji IV at the Shinbashi Enbujô, playing the role of Nuruhachi in the drama "Ishikawa Goemon".

Comments:

Ichikawa Kudanji IV was the geiyôshi of the Kamigata actor Bandô Takesaburô V between 1998 and 2013, who taught him his art to be both a tachiyaku and an onnagata actor. A geiyôshi is, more than a disciple, an adopted son from an artistic viewpoint but not in the civil status. He temporarily left the Kabuki world at the beginning of 2014, performing outside Kabuki under the stage name of Akimoto Michiyuki, but was quickly back in Fall 2014 with a different master.

The mon of Ichikawa Kudanji IV

The Bandô Shinsha line of actors

The Ichikawa Kudanji line of actors