Ichikawa Kumehachi
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Ichikawa Kumehachi (市川 九女八, 1846–1913) was a Japanese actress.[1]
Career
[edit]Ichikawa studied as a kyōgen actress.[2]
In 1858, she made her debut and became the first actress in kabuki theatre since the ban on female actors in 1629, and thus acting as a profession was reintroduced for women in Japan. In 1882, she was accepted as a pupil of Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and took the stage name Ichikawa Masunojō.[2] In 1893, she took her professional name Ichikawa Kumehachi.[2]
Legacy
[edit]Ichikawa was followed as a pioneer actress by Kawakami Sadayakko (1872–1946), who in 1903 became the first Japanese actress within modern Western drama. Her successor was Ichikawa Kumehachi II.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ Kabuki Plays on Stage: Restoration and Reform, 1872-1905
- ^ a b c d Shiro, Okamoto (2001-04-01). The Man Who Saved Kabuki: Faubion Bowers and Theatre Censorship in Occupied Japan. University of Hawaii Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-8248-2382-5.