Stage names:

Ichikawa Dannosuke III
Ichikawa Danko I

Guild: Mikawaya

Line number: SANDAIME (III)

Poetry name: Sankô

Existence: 1786 ~ 2nd day of the 11th lunar month of 1817 ^[1]

Connection:

Father: Ichikawa Danzô IV

Brother: Ichikawa Dannosuke IV

Career:

1790: he received the name of Ichikawa Danko I and started his training in Ôsaka with his father. He joined a troupe of children-actors at the Takeda no Shibai (kodomo shibai).

1800: he became wakaonnagata and took the name of Ichikawa Dannosuke III.

Fall 1806: Dannosuke went to Edo.

11th lunar month of 1806: Dannosuke achieved a great success by playing the leading role of the "Onna Shibaraku" scene in the kaomise drama "Wakazakari Heike Monogatari". The performance was interrupted the 13th day of the 11th lunar month by a sudden fire, which burned the theater to ashes and killed many members of the audience.

6th lunar month of 1808: premiere at the at the Ichimuraza of Katsu Hyôzô I's drama "Iroeiri Otogi Zôshi" ^[4]; Dannosuke played the roles of Princess Osakabe, the koshimoto Oriku and Tanbaya Otsuma [casting].

7th lunar month of 1808: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Katsu Hyôzô I's drama "Toki-mo Kikyô Shusse no Ukejô"; Dannosuke played the role of Satsuki [casting].

1st lunar month of 1809: Dannosuke's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].

8th lunar month of 1809: Dannosuke played at the Moritaza the roles of Shizuka Gozen and Kosen in the drama "Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura".

11th lunar month of 1809: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Katsu Hyôzô I and Sakurada Jisuke II kaomise drama "Misao no Hana Toba no Koizuka", which celebrated the shûmei of Onoe Shôroku I and Onoe Matsusuke II; Dannosuke played the roles of Yorimasa's mekake Ayame-no-Mae, Awa Minbu Shigeyoshi's daughter Kaoru and the tome onna Asagao [more details].

9th day of the 10th lunar month of 1808 ^[2]: his father Ichikawa Danzô IV died.

3rd lunar month of 1809: premiere at the Moritaza of Fukumori Kyûsuke I's drama "Sono Mukashi Koi no Edo-zome"; Dannosuke played the role of Osugi [casting].

8th lunar month of 1809: Dannosuke played at the Moritaza the role of Matahei's wife Otoku in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Keisei Hangonkô"; the role of Matahei was played by Bandô Hikosaburô III.

7th lunar month of 1811: premiere at the Ichimuraza of "Tamamo-no-Mae Obana no Nishiki", the Kabuki adaptation of the puppet theater drama "Tamamo-no-Mae Asahi no Tamoto"; Dannosuke played the role of Kazusanosuke's wife Tokiwazu [more details]. It was followed by the premiere at the Ichimuraza of the drama "Nazo no Obi Chotto Tokubê"; Dannosuke played the role of the okujochû Kotoura [more details].

9th lunar month of 1811: Dannosuke played at the Ichimuraza the roles of Suke-no-Tsubone and Wakaba-no-Naishi in the drama "Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura".

9th lunar month of 1812: Dannosuke played at the Ichimuraza the roles of Kan Shôjô and Chiyo in the drama "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami".

9th lunar month of 1812: Dannosuke played at the Ichimuraza the roles of Kaoyo Gozen, Tonase and Osono in the drama "Kanadehon Chûshingura".

3rd lunar month of 1814: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's drama "Sumidagawa Hana no Goshozome", commonly called "Onna Seigen"; Dannosuke played the roles of Onoe and Ôgigaya [more details].

7th lunar month of 1814: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's natsu kyôgen "Imaori Hakata no Irifune"; Dannosuke played the roles of Hataka Kojorô, the Komachiya mother Osawa and the Fukushimaya nyôbô Okaji [casting].

8th lunar month of 1814: Dannosuke played at the Ichimuraza the role the courtesan Yûgiri in the drama "Kuruwa Bunshô"; the role of Yûgiri's lover Fujiya Izaemon was played by Iwai Hanshirô V.

3rd lunar month of 1815: Dannosuke played at the Ichimuraza the roles of Shizuka Gozen, Suke-no-Tsubone and Wakaba-no-Naishi in the drama "Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura".

5th lunar month of 1815: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Sakurada Jisuke II's Kiyomoto-based dance-drama "Imayô Suma no Utsushie" (commonly called "Suma no Utsushie"); Dannosuke played the role of the ama Matsukaze [casting].

9th lunar month of 1815: the Ichimuraza went bankrupt and gave its license to the Kiriza.

11th lunar month of 1815: Dannosuke's yearly salary was 800 ryô.

1st lunar month of 1816: premiere at the Kawarasakiza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's new year sogamono drama "Nazoraete Fujigane Soga"; Dannosuke played the role of Ôiso no Tora [casting].

3rd lunar month of 1816: Dannosuke and Kiri Chôkiri, the two managers of the Kiriza, opened their theater, producing the drama "Tasuketamae Kami no Manimani".

12th day of the 1st lunar month of 1817 ^[3]: a fire broke out in the district of Norimono-chô, which destroys the Kiriza.

3rd lunar month of 1817: the Kiriza welcomed for its reopening a group of 13 Kamigata, which was led by the star Kataoka Nizaemon VII and Bandô Jûtarô. Dannosuke performed in the drama "Shinbutai Megumi no Ishizue".

10th lunar month of 1817: Dannosuke failed in the management of the Kiriza and had to hand over the license for Kabuki performances to the Miyakoza. He fell ill and, because of both illness and the heavy burden of the Kiriza debts, he decided to commit suicide.

2nd day of the 11th lunar month of 1817 ^[1]: Dannosuke died.

Comments:

Ichikawa Dannosuke III was a talented and popular onnagata actor, who made a short but successful career in Edo during the Bunka era. He was able to play any kind of female role, in jidaimono as well as in sewamono.

[1] The 2nd day of the 11th lunar month of the 14th year of the Bunka era was the 9th of December 1817 in the western calendar.

[2] The 9th day of the 10th lunar month of the 5th year of the Bunka era was the 26th of November 1808 in the western calendar.

[3] The 12th day of the 1st lunar month of the 14th year of the Bunka era was the 27th of February 1817 in the western calendar.

[4] Another possible reading for the title was "Eiri Otogi Zôshi".

Ichikawa Dannosuke III playing the role of Shizuka Gozen in the travelling dance (michiyuki) "Yoshinoyama" of the drama "Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura", which was staged in the 3rd lunar month of 1815 at the Ichimuraza (print made by Utagawa Toyokuni I)

Prints & Illustrations

Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni in 1812

Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni in 1815

The Ichikawa Danko line of actors

The Ichikawa Dannosuke line of actors