Stage names:

Kataoka Ichizô IV
Kataoka Jûzô IV
Kataoka Kamezô III

Real names: Kataoka Ryûnosuke/Kataoka Ryûsaburô

Nickname: Kataichi

Guild: Matsushimaya

Line number: YODAIME (IV)

Poetry names: Gachô, Gashô

Existence: 7 October 1880 ~ 23 December 1926

Connections:

(Adopted ?) father: Kataoka Ichizô III

Son: Kataoka Ichizô V

Grandsons: Kataoka Ichizô VI, Kataoka Kamezô IV

Disciple: Kataoka Hanzô III

Career:

1880: born in Tôkyô in the district of Shitaya Sakamoto. He was the son or the adopted son of the actor Kataoka Ichizô III.

September 1887: he made his first stage appearance, in Tôkyô at the Nakamuraza, where he received the name of Kataoka Kamezô III and played the role of Higuchi Jin'emon in the "Ninokuchi-mura" scene of the play "Koi Bikyaku Yamato Ôrai".

May 1898: premiere at the Kabukiza of Kawatake Shinshichi III's drama "Edo Sodachi Omatsuri Sashichi"; Kamezô played the role of Otane [casting].

1900: Kamezô was drafted in the Japanese Imperial Army.

January 1904: Kataoka Kamezô III was back on stage; he became nadai and took the name of Kataoka Jûzô IV at the Kabukiza, playing the roles of Oshizu and Soga Gorô Tokimune in the dramas "Chûkô Ume Kanasawa" and "Ôiso Wada Zakamori".

1905: Jûzô was drafted one more time and had to fight during the war between Japan and Russia.

March 1906: Jûzô was back to Japan alive and performed in "Mutsu Kiroku" and "Gunjin Katagi" ('A soldier's Spirit'), two victory-commemorating war dramas directed by his father and staged at the Kabukiza.

11 December 1906: his (adopted ?) father Kataoka Ichizô III died.

October 1909: Kataoka Jûzô IV took the name of Kataoka Ichizô IV at the Kabukiza, playing the role of Oda Sanshichirô Nobutaka in the drama "Sanzen Ryô Omo-ni no Shuku Tsugi".

September 1922: revival at the Meijiza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's drama "Nazo no Obi Chotto Tokubê"; Ichizô played the role of Issun Tokubê [more details].

November 1923: Ichizô played at the Minamiza in Azabu (Tôkyô) the role of Takebe Genzô in the "Terakoya" scene of the classic "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami"; the roles of Matsuômaru and Matsuômaru's wife Chiyo were played by Ichikawa Chûsha VII and Bandô Shûchô III. This was the first kabuki performance to be staged in Tôkyô after the terrible earthquake that hit the city the 1st of September 1923.

23 December 1926: Ichizô died in Tôkyô.

Comments:

Talented supporting actor of the last years of the Meiji era and the Taishô era. Kataoka Ichizô IV was able to perform both tachiyaku and onnagata roles, was a good dancer and had a great voice. Jitsugotoshi roles in sewamono were his forte.

Kataoka Ichizô IV playing the role of the monk warrior Benkei in a print made by Natori Shunsen in 1927

The Kataoka Kamezô line of actors

The Kataoka Jûzô line of actors

The Kataoka Ichizô line of actors