Stage names:

Kataoka Ichizô IV
Kataoka Jûzô IV
Kataoka Kamezô III

Real name: Kataoka Ryûnosuke

Nickname: Kataichi

Guild: Matsushimaya

Line number: YODAIME (IV)

Poetry name: Gashô

Existence: 7 October 1880 ~ 23 December 1926

Connections:

(Adopted ?) father: Kataoka Ichizô III

Son: Kataoka Ichizô V

Grandsons: Kataoka Ichizô VI, Kataoka Kamezô IV

Disciple: Kataoka Hanzô III

Career:

1880: born in Tôkyô in Sakamoto in the district of Shitaya. He is the son or the adopted son of the actor Kataoka Ichizô III.

September 1887: he makes his first stage appearance, receiving the name of Kataoka Kamezô III and playing the role of Higuchi Jin'emon in the "Ninokuchi-mura" scene of the play "Koi Bikyaku Yamato Ôrai".

May 1898: premiere at the Kabukiza of Kawatake Shinshichi III's drama "Edo Sodachi Omatsuri Sashichi"; Kamezô plays the role of Otane [casting].

1900: Kamezô is drafted in the Japanese Imperial Army.

January 1904: Kataoka Kamezô III is back on stage, becomes nadai and takes the name of Kataoka Jûzô IV at the Kabukiza, playing the roles of Oshizu and Soga Gorô Tokimune in the dramas "Chûkô Ume Kanasawa" and "Ôiso Wada Zakamori".

1905: Jûzô is drafted one more time and has to fight during the war between Japan and Russia.

March 1906: Jûzô is back to Japan alive and plays in "Mutsu Kiroku" and "Gunjin Katagi" ("A soldier's spirit"), two victory-commemorating war dramas directed by his father and performed at the Kabukiza.

11 December 1906: his (adopted ?) father Kataoka Ichizô III dies.

October 1909: Kataoka Jûzô IV takes at the Kabukiza the name of Kataoka Ichizô IV, playing the role of Sanshichirô Nobutaka in the drama "Yamato Bashi".

September 1922: revival at the Meijiza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's drama "Nazo no Obi Chotto Tokubê"; Ichizô plays the role of Issun Tokubê [more details].

November 1923: Ichizô plays at the Minamiza in Azabu (Tôkyô) the role of Takebe Genzô in the "Terakoya" scene of the classic "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami". The roles of Matsuômaru and Matsuômaru's wife Chiyo are played by Ichikawa Chûsha VII and Bandô Shûchô III. This is the first kabuki performance to be staged in Tôkyô after the terrible earthquake that hit the city the 1st of September 1923.

23 December 1926: Ichizô dies in Tôkyô.

Comments:

Talented supporting actor of the last years of the Meiji era and the Taishô era. Kataoka Ichizô IV was able to perform both tachiyaku and onnagata roles, was a good dancer and had a great voice. Jitsugotoshi roles in sewamono were his forte.

Kataoka Ichizô IV playing the role of the monk warrior Benkei in a print made by Natori Shunsen in 1927

The Kataoka Kamezô line of actors

The Kataoka Jûzô line of actors

The Kataoka Ichizô line of actors