Maya Kobayashi’s Revelation Casts Shadow On Ebizo Ichikawa’s Name-Giving Performances, Causing Loyal Customer to Leave
Ebizo and Shochiku officials can finally breathe a sigh of relief, but it is not so easy in today’s Kabuki world.
The Kabuki world today is not so easy to deal with. “Originally, the Kabuki-za was supposed to hold a three-month performance of Danjuro Ichikawa’s succession to the title of Ichikawa Danjuro, the most famous actor in the Kabuki world. But that has been shortened to two months.”
“Three-month performances at the Kabuki-za were only permitted for the successors of ‘signature actors’ in both name and reality, such as Danjuro and Kanzaburo Nakamura, who had preceded him in fame. As a fan, I feel sad about this.” (Kabuki fan from the past)
Considering the fact that the performance was postponed due to the Corona disaster, and that it has not been able to attract any audiences for the past two years, it can be said that Shochiku, the promoter, decided that it would be difficult to attract audiences for a three-month period. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that Ebizo is a signboard in the Kabuki world.
Moreover, his eldest son, Horikoshi will make his first stage appearance as Ichikawa Shinnosuke. Considering that even without Shochiku’s sales efforts, Tanimachi sources and ardent fans would still frequent the theater, it would not be that difficult to finish with a full house for the next three months. However, the reality is…
A person from Pear Garden who knows Ebizo well opened his heavy mouth to us.
He said, “That being said, it is getting harder and harder to attract visitors these days, even for Ebizo. Despite the Corona disaster, the audience for the performances in which Ebizo and the bats appeared was good. Both Shochiku and Mr. Ebizo himself were confident that there was no need to worry only about the plays in which they would appear. However, Maya Kobayashi’s revelations are now coming back to haunt them like a body blow.”
On March 31, Maya Kobayashi, Ebizo’s sister-in-law, began to “shoot her mouth off” to Ebizo. She revealed that he had not taken care of the late Mao Kobayashi (34 years old) in her hospital room and had been reading horse racing newspapers, and that he had borrowed a large sum of money (90 million yen) from the Kobayashi family for a show in the Middle East, which he has yet to repay.
She also claimed that she was “attacked” by Ebizo. The contents of the stories varied from the credible to the unverifiable. Some people involved with Shochiku also initially denied the allegations.
“It is a well-known story in the Kabuki world that Ebizo has not repaid the Kobayashi family the 90 million yen he had begged them for. However, the idea of repaying the money supported by Tanimachi, even his wife’s family, is not a big issue in the first place. So it’s not a big problem.”
But the public was not so forgiving. Instead of settling the situation, Maya’s increasingly heated response led to a noticeable decline in the number of customers.
“Mr. Ebizo has never given a proper explanation to his loyal customers who have been helping him for many years, and I feel that they are indeed dismayed. Some of the people who used to come to the bazaar whenever the bins were open have recently stopped coming.”
“Whenever Mr. Ebizo and Shochiku have had a dispute, I hear that some of the actors and staff who have sided with Mr. Ebizo, saying, ‘As long as I follow Ebizo, I’ll be fine,’ are beginning to distance themselves from him.”
Will the presentation of the new name be a good thing or a bad thing? Or will Maya use the timing to drop another bomb? Either way, the Kabuki world is now facing a critical moment.
PHOTO： Takao Kawakami
