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was a Japanese
kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...
actor of the
Kamigata Kamigata (上方) was the colloquial term for a region today called Kansai region, Kansai (''kan'', barrier; ''sai'', west) in Japan. This large area encompasses the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. The term was also sometimes used to refer only ...
tradition; also known as Jinzaemon.Dower, John W. ''Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II''. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999. p109. His violent death at the hands of a starving writer living on the actor's property has been cited by scholars such as John Dower as an example of the chaos and "social disintegration" in the months and years immediately following Japan's defeat in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Names & Lineage

Like most kabuki actors, Nizaemon had a number of stage names over the course of his career. He debuted onstage under his birth name, Tōkichi Kataoka, and later took on the names Kataoka Tsuchinosuke II and Kataoka Gadō IV before becoming the twelfth in the line of Kataoka Nizaemon. He was the fourth actor to be known by the poetry name ('' haimyō'') Roen, and bore the guild name (''
yagō , literally meaning "house name", is a term applied in traditional Japanese culture to Japanese name, names passed down within a guild, studio, or other circumstance other than blood relations. The term is synonymous with and . The term most ofte ...
'') of Matsushimaya. Born into a renowned Tokyo Kabuki family, Nizaemon XII's great-grandfather, Nakamura Karoku I (初代 中村歌六) was a legendary ''
onnagata , also , are male actors who play female roles in kabuki theatre. It originated in 1629 after women were banned from performing in kabuki performances. There are many specific techniques that actors must learn to master the role of ''onnagata'' ...
'' actor from the
Kamigata Kamigata (上方) was the colloquial term for a region today called Kansai region, Kansai (''kan'', barrier; ''sai'', west) in Japan. This large area encompasses the cities of Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe. The term was also sometimes used to refer only ...
region (present-day
Kansai region The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropol ...
) who was well-connected to several important kabuki theater families, such as the Hamuraya house (aka Arashi family) and the Takashimaya house (aka Ichikawa-Suwara family). Nizaemon XII was one of two grandsons of Kataoka Nizaemon VIII (八代目 片岡仁左衛門), an outstanding ''
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, ...
'' actor who specialized in ''nimaime'' (handsome and refined young lovers), ''jitsugotoshi'' (wise, righteous and clever men), ''katakiyaku'' (villains) and ''oyajigata'' (old men) roles. Nizaemon XII's father, Kataoka Nizaemon X (十代目 片岡仁左衛門) was a renowned ''tachiyaku'' like his father (Nizaemon VIII) whose specialty was ''katakiyaku'' (i.e. villain) roles. His uncle (and Nizaemon X's younger brother), Kataoka Nizaemon XI (十一代目 片岡仁左衛門) was a renowned and outstanding kabuki actor known for being the most notorious ''Kaneru yakusha'' (i.e., an actor who plays both ''Tachiyaku'' and ''onnagata'' roles) in the history of the Matsushimaya acting house. Nizaemon XII's cousin, Kataoka Nizaemon XIII (十三代目 片岡仁左衛門) was one of the greatest and most outstanding ''tachiyaku'' actors of the Showa era, whose specialty was ''
wagoto , or ''soft style'', is a style of kabuki acting that emphasizes realistic speech and gestures. Wagoto actors typically do not employ the exaggerated makeup and costuming common to the more exaggerated ''aragoto'' (''rough'') style. Wagoto was p ...
'' roles (which earned him the prestigious title of Living National Treasure (or ''Ningen Kokuhō'' in Japanese) in March 1972). Like Nizaemon XII, his three sons were also kabuki actors: his eldest son, Kataoka Gadō XIII (十三代目 片岡我童) was an accomplished and skilled ''onnagata'' actor (who would later be known posthumously as Kataoka Nizaemon XIV/十四代目 片岡仁左衛門), Ichimura Yoshigorō II (二代目 市村吉五郎) was a ''tachiyaku'' actor who was known for being a
supporting actor A supporting actor or supporting actress is an actor who performs a role in a play or film below that of the leading actor(s), and above that of a bit part. In recognition of important nature of this work, the theater and film industries give ...
(and who, unlike the rest of the family, was a member of the Tachibanaya house and not the Matsushimaya house), and Kataoka Roen VI (六代目 片岡芦燕) was a veteran ''tachiyaku'' actor whose specialty was ''katakiyaku'' (i.e., villain) roles. His nephew (Yoshigorō II's son), Ichimura Kakitsu XVII (十七代目 市村家橘) is a veteran ''tachiyaku'' actor who is a member of the Tachibanaya house (as is his father) and who plays both ''aragoto'' and ''wagoto'' roles.


Life and career

Born into a kabuki family, the actor who would later be known as Nizaemon first took the stage in 1885, at the age of three, at the Chitose-za, under his birth name, Tōkichi Kataoka. His father, Kataoka Nizaemon X, died in 1895; young Tōkichi took on the name Tsuchinosuke the following year, becoming Kataoka Gadō IV several years later in 1901.Shōriya Aragorō.
Kataoka Nizaemon XII
" Kabuki21.com. Accessed 31 January 2009.
He frequently performed alongside
Matsumoto Kōshirō VII was a Japanese actor. He was one of the leading ''tachiyaku'' Kabuki actors of Japan's Meiji period (1868–1912) through the late 1940s. Names Like most Kabuki actors, Kōshirō took various stage names ('' gō'') over the course of his caree ...
and Ichimura Uzaemon XV, among others, and took part in many premiere and revival performances. He is said to have had a somewhat cold and gloomy acting style earlier in his career, when he frequently played alongside ''
onnagata , also , are male actors who play female roles in kabuki theatre. It originated in 1629 after women were banned from performing in kabuki performances. There are many specific techniques that actors must learn to master the role of ''onnagata'' ...
'' Onoe Baikō VI, though after Baikō's death, when Nizaemon came to more frequently act alongside Uzaemon XV, his style and apparent mood onstage brightened noticeably; this cold, gloomy personality would return, and served him well, however, as it suited perfectly the mood of certain ''
sewamono ''Sewamono'' (世話物) is a genre of contemporary setting plays in Japanese traditional theatre. The term applies to both bunraku and kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japan ...
'' roles and plays. Gadō played a young
Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian period, Heian and early Kamakura period, Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles that toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-br ...
(known as Ushiwakamaru in the play) in the 1912 debut of the dance drama '' Hashi Benkei'', and would play Yoshitsune again on many occasions in ''
Kanjinchō ''Kanjinchō'' (勧進帳, ''The Subscription List'') is a kabuki dance-drama by Namiki Gohei III, based on the Noh play '' Ataka''. It is one of the most popular plays in the modern kabuki repertory. Belonging to the repertories of the Narita ...
''. He took the name Nizaemon in a ''
shūmei ''Shūmei'' (, "name succession") are grand naming ceremonies held in kabuki theatre. Most often, a number of actors will participate in a single ceremony, taking on new stage names. These stage names, most often those of the actor's father, gr ...
'' (name succession) ceremony in January 1936. He came to specialize in ''onnagata'' roles, i.e. female roles, and those of refined, graceful noblemen such as Yoshitsune is often portrayed. He played the courtesan Agemaki, the chief female role in '' Sukeroku Yukari no Edo Zakura'' in a March 1938 performance at the Osaka Kabuki-za. 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 (included his sister) with a hatchet. Iida was arrested in
Miyagi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,265,724 (1 August 2023) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akit ...
on 30 March. Feeble-mindedness was accepted in the trial and he was sentenced to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
on 22 October 1947. He was paroled in the 1960s.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kataoka, Nizaemon 12 Kabuki actors 1946 deaths 1882 births Japanese murder victims Male actors from Tokyo Matsushimaya Onnagata actors People from Taitō