Kabuki’s Super Star Ennosuke Ichikawa’s Fear of Public Criticism Fuel His and His Parent’s Suicide”

Toshio Ishikawa, reports on the entertainment world: “The other side of the story: “

The incident in which Ennosuke Ichikawa, a revolutionary and extremely popular Kabuki actor, was rushed to the hospital after losing consciousness from his parents’ house in Tokyo, shocked not only the Kabuki and entertainment worlds but also the whole of Japan.

On the second floor where his parents lived, his father, Danshiro Ichikawa, and his mother, Nobuko Ichikawa, were lying on their backs with a futon covering them. The mother was found dead on the spot and the father a few hours later.

Mr. Ennosuke was said to be alive. He was found by the manager who had gone to pick him up, and the fire department was notified.

In the room, there was also what appeared to be a suicide note addressed to an actor with whom he was close.

It reads, “Good-bye, Takahiko (Ennosuke’s real name).”

He was probably contemplating suicide.

But why did Mr. Ennosuke, whose work was all going well, decided to take his own life?

He was a man who was passionate about his work, and when he assumed the name “Ennosuke IV” in 2012 from “Kamejiro,” which he had used since he was seven years old, he said, “I love the name Kamejiro.”

I was attached to the name Kamejiro, but I took the job because I wanted to repay my uncle’s kindness. I want to make Kabuki, Japan’s proud traditional performing art, more and more popular. I also want to play the onnagata role, which my uncle did not have,” he emphasized.

 

And, to make matters worse, “Ennosuke Ichikawa’s Strenuous Kabuki Performance” is currently being staged at the Meiji-za Theater in Tokyo.

I had a close relationship with actress Murasaki Fujima, who was a close friend of Ennosuke III’s (now Enno, Murasaki’s husband) “Sawasaya,” and I had a very close relationship with him.

A person close to the staff of Sawasagaya said of Mr. Ennosuke

He was a smart kid who socialized well with others even as a child. Even after he became an adult, he was a kind person who was considerate of those around him.

However, he had a small temper and would yell at people when he didn’t get his way. He had his ups and downs. He just had a side that was rough and I wonder what happened to him.”

He reveals, on the day he was taken to the emergency room, “Josei Seven” published an article titled “Ennosuke Ichikawa: Intense Sexual Harassment” was released on the same day.

It was on Monday the 15th that Mr. Ennosuke was interviewed directly by a reporter. The article described how he had been sexually harassing and power-harassing his apprentices and other members of the Ichimon troupe, including kissing and bathing them. According to a source at Sawasaburoya,

“On Monday night (when he was interviewed), he seemed quite depressed. I didn’t know that he had been directly interviewed by reporters, but his usual cheerfulness was gone. “I was concerned about what had happened, but I didn’t expect this to happen.”

He told us, last year, when his cousin Teruyuki Kagawa (Kabuki name: Ichikawa Chuguruma) was bashed by the media and the public due to a power harassment and sexual harassment scandal, Ennosuke was trying his best to support him and find a way to return to the entertainment industry.

Mr. Kagawa was able to perform at the Meiji-za Theater this time because Mr. Ennosuke mediated his return to show business. Although they are cousins, they are close like brothers, and Mr. Ennosuke really admired Mr. Kagawa.

Perhaps that is why, when he saw Mr. Kagawa under fire for the scandal, he said, “I will never be like him. I don’t like it. Seeing Mr. Kagawa being driven into a corner both mentally and physically, Mr. Ennosuke was also quite shocked.”

Mr. Enno researched the history of kabuki entertainment hundreds of years ago and revived it in the modern age. That is what Mr. Ennosuke did,

“I can’t go beyond what my uncle has created,” he thought.

With this in mind, Ennosuke staged “Super Kabuki II,” a new take on the popular manga “One Piece” and “Blade of Demon’s Destruction,” among others. Even if we wait for the Meijiza to finish its performance, June and July will be at the Kabuki-za. Super Kabuki II is also scheduled for February and March of next year. He is, as the saying goes, a “signboard actor” representing the Kabuki world.

In a recent interview with “Sports Hochi,” Ennosuke said of Kabuki said, “I guess I’m grinding out my life somewhere. I never do anything I don’t want to do. Even if I don’t have time to rest, I have no choice but to keep running under these circumstances in order to restore the popularity of the Kabuki world. Mr. Saroo must have had an even tougher time. I’m getting plenty of sleep.”

He expressed his passion for kabuki.

His parents’ death is said to have been caused by psychotropic drug addiction, and Mr. Ennosuke has already been transferred from the hospital to which he was taken.

Still, was Mr. Ennosuke’s heart like glass, as people around him say, so bad that he threw away his performances and committed suicide? The public is still in shock!