Ichikawa Udanji I (初代市川右団次: 8/1862 to 12/1908) (actor 1843 – 1916)

Ichikawa Sainyū (市川斎入: 1/1909 to 3/19/1916)
Ichikawa Fukutarō I (初代市川福太郎: 3/1852 to 7/1862)
Yasōan (pen name - 夜霜庵)
Kashō (poetry name - 家升)
Beigyoku (poetry name - 米玉)

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Biography:

This actor held this name from 8/1862 to December 1908. His father was Ichikawa Kodanji IV (1812-66). His brother was Ichikawa Kodanji V (1850-1922). His son was Udanji II (1881-1936). His grandson was Ichikawa Unosuke (1919-?). Great-grandson Sainyū II (born 1947).

Born in Ōsaka. His father was an actor, but he was expected to work in a teahouse. However, as Kabuki21 points out, the call of the stage was too great. His first stage performance was in 2/1852 acting under the name Ichikawa Fukutarō. In the spring of 1862 Fukutarō and his mother are invited to Edo by his father, Ichikawa Kodanji IV. In the third month the father and son performed together, but then his parents had a falling out and Fukutarō and his mother returned to Ōsaka.

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The Kamigata Ukiyo-e Museum wrote that Udanji I "was the son of Ichikawa Kodanji IV, and although he served at a teahouse in Dotonbori, he switched to acting. From 1852, he performed in Osaka and Kyoto under the name Ichikawa Fukutaro. In 1862, he was called by his father to perform with him at the Moritaza Theater in Edo, but he soon returned to Kamigata and took on the name Ichikawa Udanji I. He was supported by Ichikawa Ichizo III and Onoe Tamizo II, and led the Kamigata Kabuki world. He played an important role alongside Sanekawa Enjaku I and Nakamura Sojuro. In 1909, his eldest son took on the name Ichikawa Udanji II, and the first Udanji was renamed Ichikawa Sainyū. He retired in 1915."

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