Uemura Kichiya
- Japanese: 上村吉弥 (Uemura Kichiya)
Uemura Kichiya is a stagename taken on by a lineage of Kamigata-based onnagata kabuki actors of the late 17th to early 18th century. The lineage was then revived in the 20th century, although under the name Kamiyama Kichiya, an alternate reading of the same characters 上村吉弥.
Lineage
- Uemura Kichiya I (1660s-1680)[1] is most known as a dancer, and for the great influence he had upon women's fashion.
- Uemura Kichiya II (1681-90s) was the adopted son of Kichiya I. Most famous for his roles as female ghosts and as other tragic female figures, Kichiya II performed as the courtesan in the first love suicide play ever staged in kabuki.
- Uemura Kichiya III (1700s - 1724/6) was a student of Kichiya II, and was most known for his roles as a wife.
- Uemura Kichiya IV (act. c. 1732-33) performed for a short time in Nagoya. His relationship to Kichiya III is unclear.
- Kamimura Kichiya V (1947-1992), after holding Nakamura and Ichikawa names earlier in his career, revived the lineage in 1947.
- Kamimura Kichiya VI (1993 to present)
References
- "Uemura (Kamimura) Kichiya." Kabuki21.com. Accessed 11 May 2010.
- ↑ Note that the dates listed here are not birth and death dates, but the period when the actor held the name Uemura Kichiya, which for most in this lineage corresponds to the period when they were active onstage.