The special circumstances of Nashien and Shochiku, who believe in Ennosuke’s return to the stage despite the “Shinju” scandal.

More than a week has passed since Ennosuke Ichikawa (47) was involved in the “Shinju (heart) commotion. On the 24th, Bunshun Online reported that Ennosuke put a plastic bag over his parents’ head when they lost consciousness after taking drugs. Still, there are a certain number of people who have no doubt in their minds that “Ennosuke will definitely return to the Kabuki stage.

No matter how much I’ve thought about it over the past week, I still can’t believe that Kame-chan (a.k.a. Ennosuke) would have voluntarily said he wanted to die. Because he was a really serious kid who listened to his parents even as an adult. His father Dan Shiro (Ichikawa Dan Shiro) had been bedridden for a long time, and to be honest, his consciousness was either clear or…. In other words, he was in no condition to return to the stage. I don’t think he would have asked such a person to die with him. After all, I can only assume that Kame-chan saw his parents die and followed them out of pessimism” (one of the matriarchs of the nashien).

That is how they are waiting for Ennosuke’s “return.

Not a few people involved in the nashien share a similar view. And there is one organization that is believed to be strongly hoping for Ennosuke’s “return”: Shochiku. That organization is Shochiku.

Shochiku, the promoter, posted a letter on its official website on March 24,

However, we would like to continue to refrain from making any comments or explaining the background of our response while the situation is still being clarified,” the company said.

The reason for this is that we are still in the process of clarifying the situation,” he said, referring to the reason for withholding an explanation. A Shochiku official expressed this complaint.

Even before the recent turmoil, Shochiku was on the verge of a crisis, not only in the Kabuki world, but also in terms of management. In addition to the admission restrictions on kabuki and stage performances at the COVID-19 crisis, there have been no notable movie hits in the past few years. The Kabuki theater has finally been free of the restrictions imposed by the Corona disaster, and just when we were expecting to attract foreign tourists and groups, the current turmoil has occurred…. The only thing Shochiku is thinking about now is, “When will Mr. Ennosuke return? This is the only question on Shochiku’s mind. If they were to lose a star after Mr. Nakaguruma, it would be too painful in terms of the box-office. If only Mr. Ennosuke could return to the stage, the fans would surely accept him. I think they think so.

This is the common sense and the current situation in the Kabuki world.