Kabuki actor. The stage name after the 7th generation is Matsushimaya.
He was the younger brother of the first young female actor Toyoshima Harunojo (1656-1715), and is said to have started out as a shamisen player. He later became a pupil of Yamashita Hanzaemon (1652-1717), and in 1696 (Genroku 9) he became the head of a troupe in Osaka. He also played the main role of a troupe leader. He was known as the best villain, but in his later years he switched to playing leading roles and excelled in real-life stories.
II <br/>Year of birth and death unknown. Son of the I. Succeeded II in 1716 (Kyoho 1) but died young.
Third generation : Date of birth and death unknown. The son-in-law of the first generation's sister, Fujikawa Shigeemon. As the second generation died young, he took over the name and became the third generation in the family line.
4th generation <br/>Year of birth and death unknown. Adopted by Fujikawa Shigeemon, originally called 2nd generation Fujikawa Hanzaburo. Succeeded to the name 4th generation in 1747 (Enkyo 4). A master of evil.
5th <br/>Years of birth and death unknown. Adopted son of the 4th. Called himself Fujikawa Hanzaburo the 3rd, he became the leading villain in Kyoto during the Horeki and Meiwa periods (1751-1772). There is a theory that he took the stage name Nizaemon the 5th, but this is not clear.
6th Generation <br/>The second generation Mihoki Gizaemon, who was a disciple of the first generation, inherited the name Kataoka, whose lineage has now become extinct, and is therefore counted as the 6th generation.
The 7th Asao Kunigoro (1755-1837) was born in Kyoto. His haiku name was Gadō. He was the younger brother of the first Asao Kunigoro (?-1776), and was the 2nd Asao Kunigoro. In 1787 (Tenmei 7), he revived the stage name of Kataoka Nizaemon, who had been discontinued, and became the 7th Asao. He was a great actor with a wide range of skills, including leading roles, villain roles, and female roles, and was active as a leading figure in the Kansai theater world.
The 8th (1810-1863) was the adopted son of the 7th. After going through the stage names of Kataoka Gato and the 2nd Kataoka Gadō, he took the stage name of the 8th in Edo in 1857 (Ansei 4) and became the head of the Nakamura-za theatre. He was a man of beautiful looks and excelled in the role of leading role in sex roles, but he was also good at playing villain roles, female roles and performing manners.
The 9th (1839-1871) was the adopted son of the 8th. The 2nd was Kataoka Gato. In 1907 (Meiji 40), the 11th Nizaemon bestowed the title of 9th on his succession. He went down to Edo and gained popularity, but died young without achieving his full potential.
The 10th generation (1851-1895), the third son of the 8th generation, was born in Osaka. In 1895 (Meiji 28), the 3rd generation Gadō took on the name Nizaemon, but died shortly thereafter.
The 11th (1857-1934) was born as Kataoka Hidetaro. He was the fourth son of the 8th. He was born in Saruwaka-cho, Asakusa, Edo. He took the stage name of Kataoka 11th in Osaka in 1907, succeeding the stage name of Gato 3rd. He frequently traveled between Tokyo and Osaka and was extremely popular. In the Kansai region, he was a rival of Nakamura Ganjiro I, competing for popularity equally, but after taking the stage name Nizaemon, he lived in Tokyo and was respected as an elder in the theatrical world. He was an actor with a wide range of skills, but in his later years he showed a certain serenity, especially in older roles. His best roles were Katagiri Katsumoto in "Kirihitoha" and Yojiro in "Horikawa".
The 12th (1882-1946) was born in Tokyo and was named Tokichi Kataoka. He was the son of the 10th. He took the stage name Nizaemon from Gadō, the 4th, in 1936 (Showa 11). After the death of Baiko Onoe, the 6th, he demonstrated his popularity and talent as the partner of Uzaemon Ichimura, the 15th, but he died unexpectedly at the hands of a servant on March 16, 1946 (Showa 21) in the midst of the unfortunate era of food shortages.
The 13th (1903-1994) was born in Tokyo and was the third son of the 11th. He took the name of the 13th in 1951 from the 4th Kataoka Gato. He showed his enthusiasm to carry on the traditions of Kamigata Kabuki by participating in the "Seven People's Association" in Osaka and hosting "Nizaemon Kabuki". He was recognized as a holder of an Important Intangible Cultural Property in 1972 and elected as a member of the Japan Art Academy in 1981. His books include "Seventy Years of the Actor" (1976) and "Sugawara and Chushingura" (1981). His biological children are the 5th Kataoka Gato (1935-), the 2nd Kataoka Hidetaro (1941-2021), and the 15th Kataoka Nizaemon.
The 14th (1910-1993), real name Kataoka Hajime, was the eldest son of the 12th Nizaemon. In 1934, he took the stage name of the 5th Kataoka Roen. In 1955, he took the stage name of the 5th Kataoka Gadō (he himself called himself the 13th), and was active as a female actor. After the death of the 13th Nizaemon, he was posthumously bestowed the title of 14th in accordance with his will.
The 15th (1944-) is the third son of the 13th. He performed on stage for many years under his real name, Takao Kataoka, and took on the stage name of the 15th in 1998 (Heisei 10). He is extremely popular as a handsome and prominent leading actor, and is active as one of the leading actors of the Heisei era of Kabuki. He became a member of the Japan Art Academy in 2006 (Heisei 18).
[Yukio Hattori]
(13th generation book) Watanabe Tamotsu's "Nizaemon's Style" (1993, Kawade Shobo Shinsha)(15th generation book) Kataoka Nizaemon (ed.) "The 15th Kataoka Nizaemon - The Path of Kataoka Takao" (1998, Tankosha)
Nizaemon Kataoka (8th generation) "Ooshi Yuranosuke" by Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III), 1860 (Man'en 1),owned by the National Diet Library
Nizaemon Kataoka (8th generation)
Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend
