Stage names:
Ôkawa Hashizô I
Onoe Kikugorô III
Onoe Baikô III
Onoe Matsusuke II
Onoe Eizaburô I
Other name: Onoe Baiju
Nickname: Baiju Kikugorô
Guild: Otowaya
Line number: SANDAIME (III)
Poetry names: Baikô (3), Baiju, Gachô, Sanchô
Existence: 1784 ~ 24 April 1849
Connections:
Adopted father: Onoe Shôroku I
Father-in-law: Ogino Izaburô II
Sons: Onoe Matsusuke III, Onoe Eizaburô IV, Onoe Kikunosuke
Son-in-laws: Onoe Kikugorô IV, Ichimura Uzaemon XII
Grandson: Onoe Kikugorô V
Disciples: Onoe Shôroku, Onoe Kikujirô II, Onoe Tamizô II, Onoe Kanijûrô I
Career:
November 1788: he makes his first appearance on stage, receiving the name of Onoe Eizaburô I.
August 1803: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Sakurada Jisuke I's drama "Banzui Chôbei Shôjin Manaita"; Eizaburô plays the role of the yakko Matahei [casting].
November 1809: great shûmei at the Ichimuraza for the Otowaya guild; Onoe Matsusuke I and Onoe Eizaburô I take the respective names of Onoe Shôroku I and Onoe Matsusuke II. His son makes his first stage appearance, receiving the name of Onoe Eizaburô II.
January 1810: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV and Sakurada Jisuke II drama "Kokoro no Nazô Toketa Iroito". The main roles are played by Matsusuke, Matsumoto Kôshirô V and Iwai Hanshirô V.
March 1810: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Kachi Zumô Ukina no Hanabure" (commonly called "Shirafuji Genta"); Matsusuke plays the role of Tsugawa Mondo [casting].
May 1810: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV and Sakurada Jisuke II drama "Ehon Gappô-ga-Tsuji"; Matsusuke plays the roles of Unzari Omatsu and Yohei [casting].
November 1814: Onoe Matsusuke II and his son Onoe Eizaburô II take the respective names of Onoe Baikô III and Onoe Matsusuke III at the Nakamuraza, playing in the drama "Ninin Muko Mikurai Sadame" [Utagawa Toyokuni I's print].
October 1815: his adopted father Onoe Shôroku I dies.
November 1815: Onoe Baikô III takes the name of Onoe Kikugorô III at the Kawarazakiza, playing in the drama "Shitennô Oedo no Kaburaya.
March 1818: premiere at the Miyakoza of the 7-role hengemono "Miyama no Hana Todokanu Edaburi", starring Kikugorô in the seven roles. One of these roles is "Kosode Monogurui" ("the short-sleeved garment madness"), staged nowadays as an independent Kiyomoto-based dance called "Yasuna".
March 1820: premiere at the Tamagawaza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Sakura Butai Maku no Datezome"; Kikugorô plays the roles of Akamatsu Hikojirô, Nikki Danjô, Kosuke, Masaoka and Ashikaga Sakingo Yorikane [casting].
September 1821: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Tsuki no En Tsuki no Shiranami". The main role (Sadakurô) is played by Kikugorô [Utagawa Toyokuni I print].
November 1821 (end of the month): premiere at the Kawarazakiza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Imoseyama Hitome Sembon", which mixes the "Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura" and "Imoseyama Onna Teikin" worlds; Kikugorô plays the roles of Satô Tadanobu, Igami no Gonta, Kajiwara Genta Kagesue, Nasu no Yoichi and the farmer Fukashichi [casting].
December 1822: premiere at at the Ichimuraza of the danmari "Ichiharano no Danmari"; Kikugorô plays the role of Hirai Yasumasa [more details].
March 1823: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Ukiyogara Hiyoku no Inazuma"; Kikugorô plays the roles of Nagoya Sanza and the courtesan Miuraya Komurasaki [casting].
June 1823: premiere at the Moritaza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Kesakake Matsu Narita no Riken", starring Kikugorô and Ichikawa Danjûrô VII in the roles of Kasane and Yoemon. The michiyuki, commonly called "Iro Moyô Chotto Karimame", is still regularly performed.
July 1825: Kikugorô plays at the Nakamuraza the roles of Ôboshi Yuranosuke, Hayano Kampei and Tonase in the drama "Kanadehon Chûshingura".
July 1825: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's ghost play "Tôkaidô Yotsuya Kaidan"; Kikugorô plays the roles of Iemon's wife Oiwa, Kobotoke Kohei and Satô Yomoshichi [casting].
November 1830: Kikugorô plays the role of Kan Shôjô in the classic "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami", which is performed at the Kitagawa no Shibai (Kyôto). he also plays the roles of Shizuka Gozen and Igami no Gonta in the classic "Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura".
August 1841: Kikugorô plays at the Ônishi no Shibai (Ôsaka) the roles of Ôboshi Yuranosuke, Kô no Moronô, Hayano Kampei and Tonase in the drama "Kanadehon Chûshingura". He also plays the roles of Sakuramaru, Takebe Genzô and Kan Shôjô in "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami". The roles of Okaru, Tonami and Yae are played by Arashi Tokusaburô III.
September 1841: Kikugorô plays in the same theater the roles of Tokubei and Kikuichi in the drama "Tenjiku Tokubei Ikoku Banashi". He also plays the roles of Oiwa, Kohei and Yomoshichi in "Tôkaidô Yotsuya Kaidan".
September 1847: Kikugorô appears on stage for the last time, at the Ichimuraza in a great program called "Onoe Baiju Ichidai Banashi". He retires and becomes the owner of a mochi shop, calling himself Kikuya Manbei.
April 1848: he is back on stage, playing under the name of Ôgawa Hashizô I.
August 1848: tour in Nagoya; then he settles in Ôsaka.
24 April 1849: Hashizô falls suddenly ill while travelling on the Tôkaidô road; he dies at the Kakegawa station.
Comments:
Onoe Kikugorô III was one of the first and most amazing kaneru yakusha in Kabuki history.
"He is perhaps best remembered for the frisson of his appearances with his rival Danjûrô VII, and for his alliance with the playwright Tsuruya Nanboku IV, who in 1825 wrote for him the role of Oiwa in "Tôkaidô Yotsuya Kaidan", the best known of Kabuki ghost plays. Besides playing vengeful ghosts, Kikugorô's specialities included adolescent males (wakashugata) and older wise men (jitsugotoshi), but his range also extended to villains (katakiyaku) and female roles (onnagata). He was acclaimed as an all-round actor, or 'man of a thousand faces' (kaneru yakusha), and his ability for the miraculously quick changes (hayagawari) so popular in the Bunka-Bunsei eras (1804-30), allowed him to play seven to nine roles in one play." (from the The Fitzwilliam Museum Website)
"All too conscious of his own good looks, he was apparently narcissistic and difficult." (from the The Fitzwilliam Museum Website)
Onoe Kikugorô III playing the role of Nippon Daemon in the drama "Hitori Tabi Gojûsan Tsugi", which was performed in June 1827 at the Kawarazakiza (print made by Utagawa Kunisada I)
Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni in 1809
Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni in 1810
Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni in 1811
Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni in 1814
Print made by Utagawa Kunisada in 1817
Print made by Utagawa Kunisada in 1817
Print made by Utagawa Kunisada in 1819
Print made by Ganjôsai Kunihiro in 1820
Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni in 1820
Print made by Utagawa Kunihiro in 1826
Print made by Utagawa Kunisada in 1827
Print made by Utagawa Kunisada in 1831
Print made by Utagawa Kunisada in 1833
The Onoe Eizaburô line of actors
The Onoe Matsusuke line of actors
The Onoe Baikô line of actors
The Onoe Kikugorô line of actors