, better known by the stage name , 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, famous for his love of '' keren'' (stage tricks). He was considered the king of ''

chūnori is a classical form of Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes, and for the elaborate make-up worn by so ...

''; he flew out over the audience, held aloft on strings, over 5000 times.

Biography

Ennosuke made his stage debut at the age of eight, at the Tōkyō Gekijō, as Ichikawa Danko III. He would formally take the name Ennosuke in 1963, at the age of 24. He is the brother of Ichikawa Danshirō IV; their father is Danshirō III, and their mother is Sanae Takasugi. Their great-grandfather and grandfather, respectively, were the

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

to be called

Ichikawa Ennosuke 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 ...

. Ennosuke was known as a great proponent of dramatic costumes, flamboyant theater signage, and stage tricks (''keren''), which are looked down upon by many kabuki connoisseurs as "playing to the gallery" and as distracting from the true dramatic art. Nevertheless, among those who enjoy ''keren'', Ennosuke is quite well regarded. He performed ''chūnori'' for the first time in 1968, as the fox in ''

Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura ''Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura'' (義経千本桜), or ''Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees'', is a Japanese play, one of the three most popular and famous in the kabuki repertoire. Originally written in 1747 for the bunraku, jōruri puppet the ...

'', and for the five thousandth time in 2000, as

Guan Yu Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...

. He has revived a number of old plays, including ''

Date no Jūyaku Date or dates may refer to: * Date, the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') * Jujube, also known as red date or Chinese date, the fruit of ''Ziziphus jujuba'' Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activit ...

'' (The Ten Roles of

Date Date or dates may refer to: * Date, the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') * Jujube, also known as red date or Chinese date, the fruit of ''Ziziphus jujuba'' Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activi ...

), in which he played ten roles in one performance, through the use of a number of methods of ''hayagawari'' (costume quick-change). Ennosuke also created a more contemporary version of kabuki called the "Super Kabuki" style in 1986. In November 2003, Ennosuke suffered from symptoms of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

, and did not perform for most of the following year. He stopped performing in 2004 and retired under the name of Ichikawa En'no II in 2012. His nephew, Takahiko Kinoshi, previously operating under the stage name Kamejiro II, adopted the Ennosuke stage name to become

Ichikawa Ennosuke IV , better known by the stage name , is a Japanese kabuki, film, and television actor and stage director. Early life and career Ichikawa Ennosuke IV was born on 26 November 1975, in Tokyo, Japan, into a family with deep connections to the kabu ...

. His son is the actor

Teruyuki Kagawa is a Japanese actor, kabuki actor (as ), and boxing commentator. Unlike most other Kabuki actors in his family (such as his father Ichikawa En'ō II and his cousin Ichikawa Ennosuke IV) who play both male and female roles, he is a ''tachiyaku' ...

(better known as Ichikawa Chusha IX, his stage name as a Kabuki actor). Ichikawa En'ō II died from

arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, are irregularities in the cardiac cycle, heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. Essentially, this is anything but normal sinus rhythm. A resting heart rate that is too fast – ab ...

in Tokyo, on September 13, 2023, at the age of 83.

References

External links

Ichikawa Ennosuke III at Kabuki21.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ichikawa, Eno 02 1939 births 2023 deaths Kabuki actors Kaneru yakusha Male actors from Tokyo Keio Senior High School alumni Keio University alumni Persons of Cultural Merit Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Omodakaya