Ii Yoho - Ii Yoho

Actor. Born in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, as the son of photographer Kitaniwa Tsukuba. He studied at the German Academy and worked at a bank before participating in the Seibikan Theater in 1891 (Meiji 24), where he played opposite Chitose Beiha and was recognized as a handsome actor. He was strongly aware that he had started out differently from the heroic plays of Kawakami Otojiro and others, and in fact his style of acting was different from theirs, working with old-school actors to perform kabuki plays and trying to dramatize literary works. In addition, the results of his research into Chikamatsu, which he conducted for about four years from 1902 (Meiji 35), attracted considerable attention. By the end of the Meiji period, he had become the leading figure in the Shinpa school in both name and reality, and in the Taisho period, he was active together with Kawai Takeo and Kitamura Rokuro, laying the foundations of today's Shinpa school.

[Noriko Matsumoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

俳優。写真師北庭筑波(きたにわつくば)の子として東京・日本橋に生まれる。独逸(ドイツ)学協会に学び、銀行勤務を経て1891年（明治24）の済美館(せいびかん)演劇に参加し、千歳米坡(ちとせべいは)の相手役を演じて美男俳優として認められた。彼には川上音二郎らの壮士芝居とは異なる出発をしたという意識が強く、実際に芸風も彼らとは違い、旧派俳優と一座して歌舞伎(かぶき)の演目を手がけたり、文芸作品の劇化上演を試みたりした。また、1902年（明治35）から約4年間にわたる近松研究の成果はかなり注目された。明治末には名実ともに新派の第一人者となり、大正期には河合武雄、喜多村緑郎(ろくろう)とともに活躍して今日の新派の基礎を築いた。

［松本伸子］

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