Stage names:

Arashi Tokusaburô VII
Ôtani Hitoe

Real name: Yokota Ichirô

Guild: Hamuraya

Line number: SHICHIDAIME (VII)

Existence: 20 December 1933 ~ 5 December 2000

Career:

April 1956: he starts his career as a Kabuki actor, taking the name of Ôtani Hitoe and playing at the Nakaza the role of Princess Yaegaki in the drama "Honchô Nijûshikô".

September 1959: he becomes nadai and plays at the Shinkabukiza the role of Hatsugiku in the drama "Kagotsurube Sato no Eizame".

February 1971: Ôtani Hitoe takes the name of Arashi Tokusaburô VII in Ôsaka at the Shinkabukiza.

May 1973: revival at the National Theater of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Horikawa Nami no Tsuzumi" to commemorate the 249th anniversary (250th memorial service) of the playwright; Tokusaburô plays the role of Sangobei's wife Yura [casting].

March 1976: Tokusaburô plays at the Minamiza the role of Nureginu in the jidaimono "Honchô Nijûshikô". His stage partners are Bandô Tamasaburô (Princess Yaegaki) and Sawamura Tosshô V (Katsuyori).

April 1976: the National Theater produces the revival in 5 acts and 9 scenes of Namiki Gohei I's drama "Kinmon Gosan no Kiri"; Tokusaburô plays the role of Kokonoe [casting].

1978: premiere in Japan of Euripides's "Medea", directed by Ninagawa Yukio; Tokusaburô plays the role of Medea.

1985: "Medea" tour in Europe.

1986: "Medea" tour in the USA.

April 1987: Tokusaburô takes part in the revival at the Meijiza of the play "Jûni Hitoe Komachi Zakura", which includes the famous Tokiwazu-based dance-drama "Tsumoru Koi Yuki no seki no To" [more details].

August 1999: final Kabuki performance at the Nakaza (an old theater about to be closed by the Shôchiku); Tokusaburô plays in the drama "Natsu Sugata Naniwa Goyomi", sharing the stage with Kataoka Hidetarô, Kataoka Ainosuke, Kamimura Kichiya and Bandô Takesaburô.

November 1999: Tokusaburô plays at the National Theater the role of the old woman Koshiji in the "Takenoko Hori" scene of the drama "Honchô Nijûshikô".

Comments:

Arashi Tokusaburô VII was a great onnagata actor, trained in the art and style of the Kamigata Kabuki. He was not born in the Kabuki world and therefore did not often appear on the stage of the Kabukiza but was sometimes in the cast of Kamigata drama revivals staged at the National Theater. He was also very active in modern productions and his most famous role was Euripides's Medea in a production by the Japanese director Ninagawa Yukio:

"The all male cast was led by an actor with experience as a Kabuki onnagata (a specialist in female parts), Tokusaburô Arashi. To bring out Medea's transgressive, androgynous character, for example, he used at various points linguistic forms and styles appropriate to Kabuki actors, women, men, and even the traditional stage narrator. As Medea's heroic side was revealed, the actor stripped off his robes--suggestive of but not quite a traditional kimono--to reveal a masculine body. As the revenge plan took hold, the heroine and the chorus spit out red ribbons from their mouths; these ribbons are traditionally linked with both blood and a coy feminine expression of a love that the heroine now rejects." (Helene P. Foley, Barnard College, Columbia University, 2001.04.27)