Stage names:

Ichikawa Chûsha IX

Real name: Kagawa Teruyuki

Guild: Omodakaya

Line number: KUDAIME (IX)

Birthday: 7 December 1965

Connections:

Great-great-grandfather: Ichikawa Danshirô II (Ichikawa Ennosuke I)

Great-grandfather: Ichikawa En'ô I (Ichikawa Ennosuke II)

Grandfather: Ichikawa Danshirô III

Father: Ichikawa En'ô II (Ichikawa Ennosuke III)

Uncle: Ichikawa Danshirô IV

Cousin: Ichikawa Ennosuke IV

Son: Ichikawa Danko V

Career:

June 2012: Ichikawa Ennosuke III and his nephew Ichikawa Kamejirô II take the respective names of Ichikawa En'ô II and Ichikawa Ennosuke IV at the Shinbashi Enbujô, performing in a special program which celebrates the hatsubutai of both Ichikawa Chûsha IX and his son Ichikawa Danko V and commemorates the 49th anniversary (50th memorial service) of late Ichikawa En'ô I and Ichikawa Danshirô III; the new Chûsha plays the roles of Chôbê and the emperor in the dramas "Ogurusu no Chôbê" and "Yamato Takeru" [more details].

July 2012: Ichikawa Chûsha IX celebrates his second month of shûmei at the Shinbashi Enbujô, playing the roles of the emperor and Yamaoka Tetsutarô in "Yamato Takeru" and "Shôgun Edo o Saru" [more details].

January 2013: Ichikawa En'ô II, Ichikawa Ennosuke IV and Ichikawa Chûsha IX celebrate their shûmei in Ôsaka at the Shôchikuza; the new Chûsha plays the roles of Ishikawa Goemon and Chôbê in "Sanmon" and "Ogurusu no Chôbê" [more details].

March 2013: Ichikawa En'ô II, Ichikawa Ennosuke IV and Ichikawa Chûsha IX celebrate their shûmei in Nagoya at the Misonoza; the new Chûsha plays the roles of Chôbê and Iori in "Ogurusu no Chôbê" and "Jiisan Baasan" [more details].

June 2013: Ichikawa En'ô II, Ichikawa Ennosuke IV and Ichikawa Chûsha IX celebrate their shûmei in Fukuoka at the Hakataza; the new Chûsha plays the roles of the emperor, Chôbê and Ishikawa Goemon in "Yamato Takeru", "Ogurusu no Chôbê" and "Sanmon" [more details].

December 2013: Ichikawa En'ô II, Ichikawa Ennosuke IV and Ichikawa Chûsha IX celebrate their shûmei in Kyôto at the Minamiza; the new Chûsha plays the roles of Iori and Tominomori Suke’emon in "Jiisan Baasan" and "Ohama Goten Tsunatoyo-kyô" [more details].

June 2014: Ichikawa Ennosuke IV and Ichikawa Chûsha IX celebrate their shûmei in the central provinces; the new Chûsha plays the role of Komagata Mohê in the drama "Ippon Gatana Dohyô Iri" [more details].

July 2014: Chûsha appears on stage at the Kabukiza for the first time, playing the roles of Giheiji, Yashaô and Odawara Shûri in the dramas "Natsu Matsuri", "Shuzenji Monogatari" and "Tenshu Monogatari".

September 2014: Ichikawa Ennosuke IV and Ichikawa Chûsha IX celebrate their shûmei in the western provinces; the new Chûsha plays the role of Chôbê in the drama "Ogurusu no Chôbê" [more details].

Comments:

"The programme ^[1] is part of the shûmei celebrations for the new Ichikawa Chûsha IX and Ichikawa Ennosuke IV (formerly Kamejirô), who are now touring Japan to announce their new titles to the world at large outside of the usual Kabuki centres. And thereby hangs a tale, starting in the 1960s. At that time the head of the Omodakaya guild was Ichikawa Ennosuke III - indeed, he still is the nominal head of the guild, although he's sidestepped into the title of Ichikawa En'ô II, and was forced virtually to stop acting in 2004, owing to ill health. Back in the 1960s, however, he was a vigorous young man, who married the Japanese film star Hama Yûko ^[2]. Unfortunately, the marriage was short-lived, and resulted in an acrimonious divorce - and a son. It was Hama Yûko who was given custody of the child, who grew up to be the award-winning film star Kagawa Teruyuki. However, his embittered mother ensured that he remained estranged from his father, and that he never received any Kabuki training. Furthermore, although Ennosuke III later remarried, he never had another son. Amazingly, this state of affairs continued until 2011, when Kagawa Teruyuki was reconciled with his father - at the age of 45! Even then, many Japanese were to be heard muttering that they were astonished that Hama Yûko (presumably famed for her intransigence) allowed this to happen! Not only were they reconciled, but it was announced that Kagawa Teruyuki would make his debut in Kabuki (at the unprecedentedly advanced age of 46) the following year, taking the name Ichikawa Chûsha IX. His small son was to become Ichikawa Danko V at the same time, and there were to be other changes of name within the guild, with Ennosuke III sidestepping into the title En'ô II, and his nephew Kamejirô taking the title Ennosuke IV. Many considered that it was Chûsha's small son, now Danko, that brought about the reconciliation by wanting to become a Kabuki actor, and that, after the initial euphoria, the new Chûsha would go back to making films, just putting in the occasional honorary appearance on the Kabuki stage." (Courtesy of Marion Hudson, 2014)

[1] This article was written after the June 2014 Kabuki tour in the central provinces.

[2] Her real name is Kagawa Atsuko.

Ichikawa Chûsha IX (illustration courtesy of SHIBAJUN all rights reserved)

The Ichikawa Chûsha line of actors