was a Japanese

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought ...

actor, one of the three most famous and celebrated of the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

,"Onoe family" (尾上家, ''Onoe-ke'')
Kabuki Encyclopedia
(歌舞伎事典, ''kabuki jiten''). Japan Arts Council, 2001–2003. Accessed 30 May 2009. along with

Ichikawa Danjūrō IX was one of the most successful and famous Kabuki actors of the Meiji period (1868–1912). Ninth in the line of actors to hold the name Ichikawa Danjūrō, he is depicted in countless ''ukiyo-e'' actor prints (''yakusha-e''), and is widely c ...

and

Ichikawa Sadanji I may refer to: Places *Ichikawa, Chiba, a city in Chiba, Japan **Ichikawa Gakuen (Ichikawa Junior and Senior High School), a large private boys and girls school in Moto-kita-kata, Ichikawa, Chiba * Ichikawa, Hyogo, a town in Hyōgo, Japan *Ichikawa ...

. Unlike most kabuki actors, who specialize in a particular type of role, Kikugorō, as a ''kaneru yakusha'', played both ''

tachiyaku is a term used in the Japanese theatrical form kabuki to refer to young adult male roles, and to the actors who play those roles. Though not all ''tachiyaku'' roles are heroes, the term does not encompass roles such as villains or comic figures, ...

'' (male heroes) and ''

onnagata (also ) are male actors who play female roles in kabuki theatre. History The modern all-male kabuki was originally known as ("male kabuki") to distinguish it from earlier forms. In the early 17th century, shortly after the emergence of the g ...

'' (women) roles and was best known for his roles in plays by

Kawatake Mokuami (birth name Yoshimura Yoshisaburō; 吉村芳三郎) (1 March 1816 – 22 January 1893) was a Japanese dramatist of Kabuki. It has been said that "as a writer of plays of Kabuki origin, he was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Japan ...

. Kikugorō was also known as one of the chief actors in the "modern" subgenre of kabuki plays known as '' zangirimono'' ("cropped hair plays"), featuring Western-style clothes and hairstyle. Kikugorō was a popular figure in ''

ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk ta ...

woodblock prints Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is crea ...

, especially in those by Toyohara Kunichika. He was also featured on Japanese postage stamps, and performed in one of the first motion pictures ever made in Japan, '' Momijigari'', as the demon princess. The associated with the Onoe family were chosen by Kikugorō V and his son Onoe Kikugorō VI, and include many of the plays for which Kikugorō V was himself most famous.

Names and lineage

Like most kabuki actors, and many artists of his time, Kikugorō had a number of names over the course of his career. His guild name, or ''

yagō , literally meaning "house name", is a term applied in traditional Japanese culture to names passed down within a guild, studio, or other circumstance other than blood relations. The term is synonymous with and . The term most often refers to th ...

'', was Otowaya. He was at various times, and in different contexts, also known as Ichimura Kakitsu IV, Ichimura Uzaemon XIII, Ichimura Kurōemon, Onoe Baikō V, and Onoe Kurōemon I, and used Baikō and Kakitsu as his poetry names (''

haimyō This is the glossary of Japanese history including the major terms, titles and events the casual (or brand-new) reader might find useful in understanding articles on the subject. A *''ashigaru'' (足輕) – feudal foot soldiers drawn from the ...

''). The fifth actor in kabuki to bear the name Onoe Kikugorō, he was the son of Ichimura Takenojō V and the grandson of Ichimura Uzaemon XI and Onoe Kikugorō III. His brother was

Bandō Kakitsu I was a Japanese kabuki actor of the Uzaemon acting lineage, also commonly known as . He was an influential actor during the Kaei through Meiji eras of the Japanese imperial calendar. He is best known for his '' wagotoshi'' roles. Early life B ...

. Kikugorō V had two biological sons, Onoe Kikugorō VI and Bandō Hikosaburō VI, and adopted Onoe Kikunosuke II and Onoe Baikō VI. A number of actors active today are descended from Kikugorō V, including his great-grandson Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII, one of the leading actors today, and Kanzaburō's sons (Kikugorō's great-great-grandsons)

Nakamura Shichinosuke II (born May 18, 1983) is a Japanese Kabuki, theatre, TV, and film actor. He was born , the second son of famed Kabuki performer, Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII. Unlike many kabuki actors, who specialize in a single type of role, Shichinosuke plays bot ...

and

Nakamura Kantarō II Nakamura may refer to: Places *Nakamura, Kōchi, a former city in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan *Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, a ward in Nagoya city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan People *Nakamura (surname), a list of people with the surname Other uses *Nakamura s ...

Life and career

The actor who would later be known as Kikugorō V first appeared on stage at the age of four, in 1848, as Ichimura Kurōemon. Three years later, he succeeded his father to the name Uzaemon, as his father became Takenojō V and ''

zamoto A ''zamoto'' (座元) is a manager of a kabuki theatre. Historically, the zamoto owned the theatre and was responsible for obtaining performance rights from the ''shōgun''.''Japan Quarterly'', 1969, p. 302 (Asahi Shinbunsha) Typically the zamoto ...

'' (head & manager) of the

Ichimura-za The was a major kabuki theatre in the Japanese capital of Edo (later, Tokyo), for much of the Edo period, and into the 20th century. It was first opened in 1634 and was run by members of the Ichimura family for much of the following nearly thre ...

theater. Uzaemon XIII performed in the premieres of a number of plays by Kawatake Mokuami, the leading playwright of the ''

bakumatsu was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji governm ...

'' period. These included the premiere of "'' Aoto Zōshi Hana no Nishiki-e''" in March 1862, in which he played the lead role of Benten Kozō, and, many years later, the premieres of '' Tsuchigumo'' and ''

Ibaraki Ibaraki may refer to any of the following places in Japan: * Ibaraki Prefecture, one of the 47 prefectures of Japan **Ibaraki, Ibaraki, a town in Ibaraki Prefecture **Ibaraki Airport, an airport in Omitama, Ibaraki **Ibaraki dialect, the dialect sp ...

'', among many others. He took the name Ichimura Kakitsu in 1863 before becoming the fifth Onoe Kikugorō in 1868, and '' zagashira'' (stage manager, troupe leader) of the

Nakamura-za was one of the three main ''kabuki'' theatres of Edo alongside the Morita-za and Ichimura-za. History It was founded in 1624 by Nakamura Kanzaburō 1st. The Nakamura-za relocated to the new capital Tokyo in 1868 and reopened under Nakamura ...

the year following. Kikugorō was among the actors who took part in a special performance at the Shintomi-za on July 16, 1879, in honor of

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union A ...

. The play '' Gosannen Ōshū Gunki'', metaphorically relating aspects of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

through the story of the Japanese 11th century

Gosannen War The Gosannen War (後三年合戦, ''gosannen kassen''), also known as the Later Three-Year War, was fought in the late 1080s in Japan's Mutsu Province on the island of Honshū. History The Gosannen War was part of a long struggle for power ...

, was written and performed especially for this occasion. He also performed at the grand opening of the Chitose-za theater in 1885, and before the

Meiji Emperor , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figure ...

two years later alongside

and

; this was the first time an emperor had deigned to watch a kabuki performance. Kikugorō was very devoted to his craft, and even visited the battlefield of the 1868

Battle of Ueno The was a battle of the Boshin War, which occurred on July 4, 1868 (''Meiji 1, 15th day of the 5th month''), between the troops of the Shōgitai under Shibusawa Seiichirō and Amano Hachirō, and Imperial "Kangun" troops. Prelude Though the ...

, during the battle, to see for himself what war was like, how soldiers behaved, so as to be able to better portray them on stage.Ichikawa, Danjūrō. ''Danjūrō no kabuki annai'' (團十郎の歌舞伎案内, "Danjūrō's Kabuki Guide"). Tokyo: PHP Shinsho, 2008. p. 74. He performed countless times at the Ichimura-za and Kabuki-za (which opened in 1889) over the course of his career. Kikugorō made his final stage appearance at the latter, in November 1902, playing the roles of Benten Kozō, Shizue, and Kinai in a play entitled ''Chūshin Kanagaki Kōshaku''; he died a few months later, on February 18, 1903, at the age of 58.

References

* Shōriya, Aragorō. "Onoe Kikugorô V"
Kabuki21.com
Accessed 30 May 2009.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Onoe, Kikugoro 5 1844 births 1903 deaths Kabuki actors People from Tokyo Male actors from Tokyo