Stage names:
Ichikawa Sadanji II
Ichikawa Enshô II
Ichikawa Koyone I
Ichikawa Botan
Nickname: Daitôryô (president)
Guild: Takashimaya
Line number: NIDAIME (II)
Poetry name: Kyôka
Existence: 19 October 1880 ~ 23 February 1940
Connections:
Father: Ichikawa Sadanji I
Adopted son: Ichikawa Shôen
Disciples: Ichikawa Samonji, Ichikawa Sakizô, Ichikawa Shôhaku, Ichikawa Tsutanosuke
Career:
April 1884: first stage appearance; he receives the name of Ichikawa Botan.
July 1896: Ichikawa Botan takes the name of Ichikawa Koyone I.
September 1900: Ichikawa Koyone I takes the name of Ichikawa Enshô II.
7 August 1904: his father Ichikawa Sadanji I dies.
September 1906: Ichikawa Enshô II takes the name of Ichikawa Sadanji II. He inherits from his father the management of the Meijiza ... and its heavy debt. He can't manage it well and quickly gets rid of it to join the Shôchiku Company.
December 1906 ~ August 1907: Sadanji travels in Europe to study theatre and dance abroad. He meets in Paris the famous actresses Sarah Bernhardt and Réjane and becomes student in London at the Theatre school run by Sir Beerbohm Tree (his elocution teacher tells him that he has absolutely no chance to become an actor!). He goes back to Japan through the USA.
September 1909: revival at the Meijiza of the drama "Kenuki", a long-forgotten play belonging to the kabuki jûhachiban; Sadanji plays the role of Kumedera Danjô [casting].
November 1909: foundation with Osanai Kaoru of the Jiyû Gekijô study group (the "Free Theatre"). The first program, the premiere in Japan of Henrick Ibsen's "John Gabriel Borkman", is staged at the Yûrakuza
May 1910: revival at the Meijiza of the drama "Narukami", a long-forgotten play belonging to the kabuki jûhachiban; Sadanji plays the role of the wicked priest Narukami [casting].
May 1911: premiere at the Meijiza of the Okamoto Kidô's drama "Shuzenji Monogatari"; Sadanji plays the role of the mask-carver Yashaô [casting].
October 1911: premiere at the Meijiza of the Okamoto Kidô's drama "Minowa no Shinjû"; Sadanji plays the role of Fujieda Geki [casting].
January 1914: revival at the Hongôza of the drama "Gedatsu", a long-forgotten play belonging to the kabuki jûhachiban. The roles of the warrior Taira no Kagekiyo and Akoya are played by Sadanji and Ichikawa Shôchô II.
October 1914: premiere at the Shintomiza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Sasaki Takatsuna"; Sadanji plays the role of Sasaki Takatsuna.
October 1914: premiere at the Meijiza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Soga Monogatari"; Sadanji plays the role of Kyô no Kojirô [casting].
September 1915: premiere at the Hongôza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Toribeyama Shinjû"; Sadanji plays the role of Kikuchi Hankurô [casting].
February 1916: premiere at the Hongôza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Banchô Sarayashiki"; Sadanji plays the role of Lord Aoyama Harima [casting].
August 1917: the play "Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami" is produced at the Kabukiza for the first time; Sadanji plays the role of Issun Tokubei [casting].
September 1918: premiere at the Meijiza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Onoe Idahachi"; Sadanji plays the role of Harada Idahachi [casting].
September 1919: ninth and final program for the Jiyû Gekijô, which is staged at the Imperial Theater. It is the premiere in Japan of Eugène Brieux's "La Foi".
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; Sadanji plays the role of Gonsuke [casting].
January 1926: Sadanji plays at the Kabukiza the role of the wicked priest Narukai in the drama "Narukami"; the role of Princess Taema is played by Ichikawa Shôchô II.
July 1926: premiere at the Kabukiza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Gonza to Sukejû"; Sadanji plays the role of Sukejû [casting].
Summer 1928: Sadanji organizes the first tour of a Kabuki troupe outside Japan. The destination is the USSR and the troupe performs in Moscow and Leningrad [more details].
April 1932: premiere at the Kabukiza of Mayama Seika's "Yoritomo no Shi"; Sadanji plays the role of Minamoto no Yoriie [casting].
February 1934: premiere at the Kabukiza of "Ôishi Saigo no Ichinichi", the tenth play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura"; Sadanji is responsible for the production and plays the role of Ôishi Kuranosuke.
January 1935: Sadanji produces "Edojô no Ninjô" and "Daini no Shisha", the first and second plays of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura" at the Tôkyô Gekijô.
January 1935: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of Uno Nobuo's drama "Fubuki Tôge"; Sadanji plays the role of Naokichi [casting].
April 1935: Sadanji produces at the Tôkyô Gekijô "Saigo no Ôhyôjô", the third play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura".
1936: Sadanji plans to revive the Jiyû Gekijô but it does not materialize.
April 1938: Sadanji produces at the Meijiza "Kira Yashiki Uramon" and the first act of "Sengoku Yashiki", the seventh and ninth plays of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura".
November 1938: premiere at the Kabukiza of "Nambuzaka no Yuki Wakare", the sixth play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura"; Sadanji plays the role of Ôishi Kuranosuke [casting]. He also plays the role of Togashi in the dance-drama "Kanjinchô"; the roles of Benkei and Yoshitsune are played by Matsumoto Kôshirô VII and Ichimura Uzaemon XV.
December 1938: Sadanji plays at the Minamiza the role of Togashi in the dance-drama "Kanjinchô". The roles of Benkei and Yoshitsune are played by Matsumoto Kôshirô VII and Ichimura Uzaemon XV.
February 1939: Sadanji produces at the Tôkyô Gekijô the second act of "Sengoku Yashiki", the ninth play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura".
April 1939: Sadanji produces at the Kabukiza "Fushimi Shumokumachi", the fourth play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura".
January 1940: Sadanji produces at the Tôkyô Gekijô "Ohama Goten Tsunatoyokyô", the fifth play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura".
23 February 1940: Sadanji dies.
Comments:
Ichikawa Sadanji II was one of the most popular actors in Japan in the first half of the twentieth century. He was an open-minded reformist, working hard to promote new plays, and an adept of revivals of long-forgotten classical dramas. His close collaborations with Okamoto Kidô, Osanai Kaoru and Mayama Seika were very fruitful and many Shinkabuki dramas, which they created together, are still in the current Kabuki repertoire. Ichikawa Sadanji II gathered them in a special collection of ten plays called Kyôka Gikyoku Jûshu, which included "Toribeyama Shinjû", "Banchô Sarayashiki" and "Shuzenji Monogatari".
Ichikawa Sadanji II playing the role of the wicked priest Narukami of the eponymous drama "Narukami" (print made by Natori Shunsen)
The Ichikawa Sadanji line of actors