Fukami Juzaemon

Fukami Jikyû in an ukiyo-e print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

• Other Names: Fukami Jikyû

Fukamizô Jûzaemon, also known as Fukami Jikyû, was a former samurai, lay monk, and gangster. In 1713, he returned to Edo after a period of exile, and became enough of a topic of popular discussion that kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjûrô II based a major character on him - Fukami Jikyû became the inspiration for Ikyû, the chief antagonist in Sukeroku, one of the most popular kabuki plays of all time.

References

• Holly Blumner and Naoko Maeshiba, "Sukeroku: A History," in 101 Years of Kabuki in Hawai'i, Honolulu: University of Hawaii at Manoa (1994), 42-44.