Stage names:
Kataoka Nizaemon XII
Kataoka Gadô IV
Kataoka Tsuchinosuke II
Kataoka Tôkichi
Others names:
Kataoka Roen IV
Kataoka Gadô XII
Real name: Kataoka Tôkichi
Guild: Matsushimaya
Line number: JÛNIDAIME (XII)
Poetry name: Roen (4)
Existence: 9 September 1882 ~ 16 March 1946
Connections:
Grandfather: Kataoka Nizaemon VIII
Father: Kataoka Nizaemon X
Sons: Kataoka Gadô V, Ichimura Yoshigorô II, Kataoka Roen VI
Career:
1885: he makes his first appearance on stage, at the Chitoseza, where he plays under his real name, Kataoka Tôkichi.
16 April 1895: his father Kataoka Nizaemon X dies.
January 1896: Kataoka Tôkichi takes the name of Kataoka Tsuchinosuke II at the Kabukiza, playing in the drama "Zôhô Momoyama Monogatari".
March 1901: Kataoka Tsuchinosuke II takes the name of Kataoka Gadô IV in Ôsaka at the Kadoza, playing in the classic "Imoseyama Onna Teikin".
July 1903: Gadô plays at the Bentenza (Ôsaka) the role of Shuntokumaru in the drama "Sesshû Gappô-ga-Tsuji". His stage partners are Arashi Tokusaburô V (Tamate Gozen) and Arashi Kitsusaburô IV (Gappô).
April 1912: premiere at the Kabukiza of the dance "Hashi Benkei"; Gadô plays the role of Ushiwakamaru [more details].
January 1916: Gadô plays at the Naniwaza (Ôsaka) the prestigious role of Princess Yuki in the drama "Kinkakuji". His stage partners are Arashi Tokusaburô V (Tôkichi) and Arashi Ganshô (Daizen). The same play is staged with the same casting in April at the Suehiroza (Nagoya).
April 1932: premiere at the Kabukiza of Mayama Seika's "Yoritomo no Shi"; Gadô plays the role of Ôe Hiromoto [casting].
16 October 1934: his uncle Kataoka Nizaemon XI dies.
December 1934: Gadô plays at the Minamiza the role of Shimbei in the drama "Sukeroku Yukari no Edo Zakura"; the roles of Sukeroku, Agemaki and Ikyû are played by Ichimura Uzaemon XV, Nakamura Fukusuke IV and Matsumoto Kôshirô VII. Gadô also plays the role of Yoshitsune in the dance-drama "Kanjinchô"; the roles of Benkei and Togashi are played by Matsumoto Kôshirô VII and Ichimura Uzaemon XV.
January 1936: Kataoka Gadô IV takes the name of Kataoka Nizaemon XII at the Kabukiza, playing in the drama "Sanzenryô Hatsuharu Kurairi".
December 1937: Nizaemon plays at the Minamiza the role of Yoshitsune in the dance-drama "Kanjinchô". The roles of Benkei and Togashi are played by Matsumoto Kôshirô VII and Ichimura Uzaemon XV.
March 1938: Nizaemon plays at the Ôsaka Kabukiza the role of Agemaki in the drama "Sukeroku Yukari no Edo Zakura"; the roles of Sukeroku, Shimbei and Ikyû are played by Ichimura Uzaemon XV, Nakamura Kaisha and Ôtani Tomoemon VI. Nizaemon also plays the role of Yoshitsune in the dance-drama "Kanjinchô". The roles of Benkei and Togashi are played by Matsumoto Kôshirô VII and Ichimura Uzaemon XV.
November 1938: premiere at the Kabukiza of "Nambuzaka no Yuki Wakare", the sixth play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura"; Nizaemon plays the role of Lady Yôzeiin [casting].
March 1941: Nizaemon plays at the Kabukiza the role of Yoshitsune in the dance-drama "Kanjinchô". The roles of Benkei and Togashi are played by Matsumoto Kôshirô VII and Ichimura Uzaemon XV.
December 1941: Nizaemon plays at the Minamiza the role of Otomi in the drama "Yowa Nasaka Ukina no Yokogushi"; the role of Yosaburô is played by Ichimura Uzaemon XV. He also plays the role of Yoshitsune in the dance-drama "Kanjinchô"; the roles of Benkei and Togashi are played by Matsumoto Kôshirô VII and Ichimura Uzaemon XV.
June 1943: Nizaemon achieves a great success at the Kabukiza by playing the role of Kiso Senjô Yoshikata in the drama "Yoshikata Saigo".
December 1945: Nizaemon plays at the Tôkyô Gekijô the roles of Rôben, Akoya and Omino in the dramas "Rôben Sugi no Yurai", "Akoya" and "Sasaki Takatsuna".
January 1946: Nizaemon appears on stage for the last time, in Kyôto at the Minamiza, where he plays the roles of Matsudaira Chôshichirô, Benten Kozô Kikunosuke, Akoya and Sakaida Kakiemon in the dramas "Matsudaira Chôshichirô", "Benten Kozô", "Akoya" and "Meikô Kakiemon".
16 March 1946: "his life and career were cut short, however, when, on 16 March 1946, he and four others in his household were murdered by Toshiaki Iida, in the actor's home*. Iida was a writer who had been living in a detached house on the actor's property. Like the great majority of Japanese in the early post-war, Iida was extremely poor and starving. On this particular day, a quarrel erupted between Nizaemon and Iida who envied and resented the actor's relatively lavish lifestyle; it ended with the writer killing Nizaemon, his wife, his infant son, and two maids with a hatchet" (source: wikipedia).
Comments:
Kataoka Nizaemon XII was the first in this prestigious line of actor to focus on onnagata roles. After the death of Onoe Baikô VI in 1934, he became the main stage partner in female roles of the star Ichimura Uzaemon XV. He was extremely popular in Tôkyô as well as Ôsaka.
Kataoka Nizaemon XII's best roles: Miyuki ("Asagao Nikki") and Akoya ("Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki").
(*) Kataoka Nizaemon XII's home in Tôkyô was located in Sendagaya (district of Shibuya). The victims were the actor, the actor's 26-year old wife Toshiko, his 2-year old son Saburô, a 12-year old housemaid and a 69-year old housemaid.
Kataoka Nizaemon XII playing the role of Chôshichirô in the drama "Matsudaira Chôshichirô" in a print made by Ôta Masamitsu in 1950 (?)
Print made by Yoshikawa Kampô in 1924
Print made by Ôta Masamitsu in 1950
The Kataoka Roen line of actors
The Kataoka Gadô line of actors
The Kataoka Nizaemon line of actors