Kabuki

Kabuki, Japanese classic theatrical play, has always been a rich source of movie actors. Boys are born to several of the traditional Kabuki families (women are not allowed in Kabuki), go through rigorous training from the very young age, and often start their stage career way before their elementary school. Mothers often are former actresses, so their chances of inheriting good look DNAs are very high. Their deep-rooted traditional movements and sword fighting skills are rare resources in Japan's renewed interest to samurai/period dramas in recent years.

There are, however, so many Kabuki actors as there are so many life stories. Two of the most prominent Kabuki-movie combo actors in 2005 are the most interestingly different cases in their raising and their ways into the movies.

Somegoro Ichikawa - prince with a silver spoon

Born as the son of Koshiro Matsumoto, himself a well-known Kabuki-movie actor, Somegoro Ichikawa is the crown prince of a main stream clan among Kabuki families. His younger sister is Takako Matsu, the star actress in Yoji Yamada's "The Hidden Blade", and his older sister also is an actress. He played a role in his first Kabuki stage and in his first TV drama (together with his father) at the age of 5. Kabuki actors often collaborate with Western-style stage acts as well as Japanese modern theater companies, so following this modern tradition of Kabuki people, Somegoro played the role of Hamlet at the age of 14, as the youngest Hamlet in the history. By his 20's, he is considered one of the major young Kabuki actors of his generation, with proven trackrecords and the noble good look. In 1997, Somegoro got a small role in Koki Mitani's "Welcom Back, Mr. McDonald (Rajio no Jikan)" as his movie debut.

One of his favorite modern collaboration was "Ashura", which originally was a stage act. When the project to filmize "Ashura" with director Yojiro Takita ("When The Last Sword is Drawn", "Onmyoji"), Somegoro insisted that he play the main role of the movie, despite of his busy schedule on Kabuki stage. Film version "Ashura", opened in 2005, became his first main role film, co-starring with Rie Miyazawa.

Then came the main role of "Semishigure" (2005). The original story is often considered the best among Shuhei Fujisawa's novels, whose works have recently been filmized by Yoji Yamada as "The Twilight Samurai" and "The Hidden Blade". Somegoro played the main character Bunshiro Maki, a low-rank samurai who risks his life to protect his childhood love he no longer can reach. His expression of this pure-hearted young samurai with a superb sword skills and quiet pride brought about 2 film awards and Japan Academy nomination to him so far, probably more to come.

"Semishigure" official site cast page (Click top left photo icon for larger photo of Somegoro)
"ASHURA" official site
Somegoro Ichikawa in Kabuki outfit on Japan Actors' Association Kabuki Website
PARCO Kabuki "Ketto Takata-no-Baba" video trailer, Koki Mitani's first Kabuki script, with Somegoro (Click the black and red box with "PARCO")
Special Thanks to "Sometsu" fansite (Japanese only)

Shido Nakamura - unusual challenger rising from the marginal

In contrast, Shido Nakamura did not get many roles even in his 20's, though he too started Kabuki acting at the age of 9. His father, Shido Nakamura Sr., quit Kabuki early on to devote his time to help his famous brother (Shido Jr.'s uncle), Kinnosuke Yorozuya, who also quit Kabuki to concentrate on movies. With no back up from his father's generation, his early career in Kabuki was rather mediocre.

So one day he found a newspaper ad about the audition of a movie "Ping Pong" (2002), one of the popular manga filmization project, circa 2001. He got the role as Dragon, a skin-headed master of high-school table tennis. His strong character in this film gave such an impact that his movie career all of a sudden started to bloom. In 2004, Shido played the gentle soul husband who is suffered from neurosis, impressively different character from Dragon, in mega-hit 'pure-love' film "Be With You". He married the actress Yuko Takeuchi, who played his wife in this movie, in real life, afterwards.

Just like Honda and Sony who got their fame overseas first and then flourished domestically after that, his Kabuki jobs started pouring in after he established his fame in movie circle. Now he is considered up-and-coming hopeful in his homeground as well.

In the recent big hit war-time flix "YAMATO", Shido plays one of the two main characters Mamoru Uchida, a soldier on the warship Yamato which was sunk by Americans in WWII. At the premiere event of "YAMATO", when asked his impression of the role, he answered, "imagine how tough it was to leave the loved ones behind, to protect them, for almost a sure death..." with tears, as a new father of a baby just born a few weeks ago.

In 2006, he will appear in Hong Kong/China movie "Fearless" as a Judo master who rivals Jet Li in the multi-national martial arts match. According to Chinabe Cinema, it is rumored that the director asked him to shave his hair (inspired by "Ping Pong"?) but his management office refused this time.

Even with his hair or without, Shido remains the maverick in the Kabuki-movie combo world.

"Ping Pong" official site
"Be With You" official site
"YAMATO" official site (go to "cast" page and click the center-right guy with a hard hat)
Shido Nakamura in Kabuki outfit on Japan Actors' Association Kabuki Website

So why Kabuki - now?

Though very different background, they have one thing in common. Fans of both from the movies rush to Kabuki theaters. Their popularity is a great promotion for Kabuki, and this is how Kabuki has survived several hundred years as the popular art among the city people, not as a national treasure subsidized by the government. According to "All About" Kabuki guide Akiko Isogawa, "Kabuki is all about how to make their stars look good, throughout the time", and they surely look great to many people in modern Japan.