Ichikawa Chusha VII (市川中車) aka Ichikawa Yaozo VII (市川八百蔵)

ICHIKAWA CHÛSHA VII (市川中車)
03/19/1860 - 07/12/1936

aka ICHIKAWA YAOZÔ VII (市川八百蔵)

OCTOBER 1918

Ichikawa Chùsha VII (市川中車) as
Takechi Mitsuhide (武智光秀)

Play: Toki-ha Ima Kikyô no Hataage
(時今也桔梗旗揚)
Performance Place: Kabuki-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 09/29/18
Print Date: 10/1918?
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada III (歌川国貞)
Series: Chiyo ni Sakaeru Kabuki no Irodori
(千代栄劇彩)
Personal Collection

JANUARY 1919

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as
Kinkanban Jingorô (金看板甚五郎)

Play: Kinkanban Kyôkaku Hondana
(金看板侠客本店)
Performance Place: Meiji-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 01/02/19
Print Date: 01/1919?
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada III (歌川国貞)
Series: Chiyo ni Sakaeru Kabuki no Irodori
(千代栄劇彩)
Personal Collection

FEBRUARY 1919

Ichikawa Chùsha VII (市川中車) as
Ôbasaburô (大場三郎)

Play: Na mo Tachibana Homare no Ishikiri
(名橘誉石切)
Performance Place: Kabuki-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 02/08/19
Print Date: 02/1919?
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada III (歌川国貞)
Series: Chiyo ni Sakaeru Kabuki no Irodori
(千代栄劇彩)
Image courtesy of Art Research Center,
Ritsumeikan University

MARCH 1919

            Ichikawa Chûsha VII
            (市川中車) as
            Toneri Matsuômaru
            (舎人松王丸)

            Play: Sugawara Denjù Tenarai
            Kagami (菅原伝授手習鑑;
            菅原傳授手習鑑)
            Performance Place: Shintomi-
            za, Tokyo
            Performance Date: 03/11/19
            Print Date: 03/1919?
            Artist: Utagawa Kunisada III
            (歌川国貞)
            Medium: woodblock printed
            senshafuda
            Personal Collection

            Note: This design was post-
            humously reissued in 1922
            in a slightly different color
            scheme depicting the actor
            Nakamura Kichiemon I
            (中村吉右衛門) as
            Matsuômaru (松王丸) in the
            role.

MAY 1919

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as
Mitsuhide (光秀)

Play: Ehon Taikôki
(繪本太功記; 絵本大功記)
Performance Place: Kabuki-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 05/03/19
Print Date: 05/1919?
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada III (歌川国貞)
Series: Chiyo ni Sakaeru Kabuki no Irodori
(千代栄劇彩)
Personal Collection

Note: This design was posthumously
reissued in a slightly different color
scheme when Chûsha VII reprised this
role at the Meiji-za in September 1922.

JULY 1919

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as
Gotobê (五斗兵衛)

Play: Yoshitsune Koshigoejô
(義経腰越状)
Performance Place: Shintomi-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 07/03/19
Print Date: 07/1919?
Series: Chiyo ni Sakaeru Kabuki no Irodori
(千代栄劇彩)
Personal Collection

SEPTEMBER 1919

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as
Takiguchi Ueno (滝口上野)

Play: Hakone Reigen Izari no Adauchi
(箱根霊験躄仇討)
Performance Place: Meiji-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 09/02/19
Print Date: 09/1919?
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada III (歌川国貞)
Series: Chiyo ni Sakaeru Kabuki no Irodori
(千代栄劇彩)
Personal Collection

DECEMBER 1919

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as
Musashibō Benkei (武蔵坊弁慶)

Play: Ataka no Seki (安宅関)
Performance Place: Teikoku Gekijô, Tokyo
Performance Date: 12/01/19
Print Date: 12/1919?
Artist: Matsuda Seifû (松田青風)
Series: Nigao-e (似顔繪), #5
Personal Collection

Note: The folder says the play is Ataka
Benkei (j安宅辨慶). Chûsha VII also
performed this role in an April 1921
production at the Shintomi-za, so it is
possible that this print relates to that
performance.

                Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as Benkei (弁慶)

                Ichikawa Sumizô VI (市川寿美蔵; 市川壽美蔵) as Yoshitsune (義経)

                Plays: Kiheitai (奇兵隊); Ataka no Seki (安宅關); Matsudaira Chôshichirô (松平長七郎);
                Narukami (鳴神);
                Performance Place: Teikoku Gekijô, Tokyo
                Performance Date: 12/01/19
                Print Date: 12/1919?
                Artist: Torii Kiyotada (鳥居清忠)
                Medium: Woodblock printed ehon sujigaki cover
                Image courtesy of the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum

                Note: The cover also depicts Bandô Jusaburô III (阪東壽三郎; 坂東寿三郎) as Hirado Seizô (平戸清藏),
                Ichikawa Kodanji V (市川小団次; 市川小團次) as Kano Gon'emon (河野権右衛門), and an unknown
                in Matsudaira Chôshichirô (松平長七郎); Kataoka Gado IV (片岡我童) as Kyô Ningyô (京人形) and
                Ichikawa Ennosuke II (市川猿之助) as Hidari Jingorô (左甚五郎) in Kyô Ningyô (京人形); and Sawamura
                Sônosuke I (沢村宗之助; 澤村宗之助) as Kumo Taema-hime (雲絶間姫) and Ichikawa Sadanji II
                (市川左団次; 市川左團次) as Narukami Jônin (鳴神上人) in Narukami (鳴神).

JANUARY 1920

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as
Ôkura-kyô (大蔵卿)
Play: Ichijô Ôkura Monogatari
(一條大蔵譚),which appears
to be a version of Act IV, Scene 3 of
Kiichi Hôgen Sanryaku no Maki
(鬼一法眼三略巻)
Performance Place: Meiji-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 01/03/20
Print Date: 01/1920?
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada III (歌川国貞)
Series: Chiyo ni Sakaeru Kabuki no Irodori
(千代栄劇彩)
Personal Collection

            Ichikawa Chûsha VII
            (市川中車) as
            Ôkura-kyô (大蔵卿)

            Play: Ichijô Ôkura Monogatari
            (一條大蔵譚), which appears
            to be a version of Act IV,
            Scene 3 of Kiichi
            Hôgen Sanryaku no Maki
            (鬼一法眼三略巻)
            Performance Place: Meiji-
            za, Tokyo
            Performance Date: 01/03/20
            Print Date: 01/1920?
            Artist: Utagawa Kunisada III
            (歌川国貞)
            Medium: woodblock printed
            senshafuda
            Personal Collection

MAY 1920

Ichikawa Chùsha VII (市川中車) as
Izu no Kami (伊豆守)

Play: Hana Shôbu Keian Jikki
(花菖蒲慶安実記)
Performance Place: Shintomi-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 05/05/20
Print Date: 05/1920?
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada III (歌川国貞)
Series: Chiyo ni Sakaeru Kabuki no Irodori
(千代栄劇彩)
Image courtesy of Artelino.com

JULY 1920

Ichikawa Chùsha VII (市川中車) as
Toriyama Bungonosuke (鳥山豊後之助)

Play: Ii Tairô no Shi (井伊大老の死)
Performance Place: Kabuki-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 07/10/20
Print Date: 07/20?
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada III (歌川国貞)
Series: Chiyo ni Sakaeru Kabuki no Irodori
(千代栄劇彩)
Personal Collection

JANUARY 1921

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as
Fukashichi (鱶七)

Play: Imoseyama Onna Teikin (妹背山婦女庭訓)
Performance Place: Kabuki-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 01/05/21
Print Date: 01/1921?
Artist: ?
Series: Chiyo ni Sakaeru Kabuki no Irodori
(千代栄劇彩)
Image courtesy of Artelino.com

Note: This print is similar in format to the series
of prints designed by Kunisada III between 1917
and 1920, and was probably issued by the
publisher in a limited attempt to continue the series
after Kunisada III's death in 1920. It is also possible
that it is a posthumous reissue of an unknown
Kunisada III design.

NOVEMBER 1921

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as
Hokkesan no Kesatarô (法華山の袈裟太郎)

Play: Miyajima no Danmari (宮島のだんまり)
Print Date: 11/03/21
Artist: Yoshida Eisho (吉田永昇)
Series: Azuma Nishiki Yôjûtsu-kura (東錦妖術競)
Personal Collection

FEBRUARY 1922

Ichikawa Chùsha VII (市川中車) as
Tsubone no Iwafuji (局岩藤)

Play: Kagamiyama Kokyò no Nishikie
(加賀見山旧錦絵; 鏡山旧錦繪)
Performance Place: Shintomi-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 02/01/22
Print Date: 02/1922?
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada III (歌川国貞)
Series: Chiyo ni Sakaeru Kabuki no Irodori
(千代栄劇彩)
Image courtesy of the Honolulu Museum
of Art

Note: This design (lacking Kunisada's
signature and seal, no doubt because
Kunisada had died in 1920) was likely
originally issued in a slightly different
color scheme with a different actor
playing this role. A copy of the original
version of this print has not as yet been
located. However, it is also possible
that it is the work of another artist.

SEPTEMBER 1922

Ichikawa Chùsha VII (市川中車) as
Mitsuhide (光秀)

Play: Ehon Taikòki (絵本太功記)
Performance Place: Meiji-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 09/05/22
Print Date: 09/1922?
Artist: Utagawa Kunisada III (歌川国貞)
Series: Chiyo ni Sakaeru Kabuki no Irodori
(千代栄劇彩)
Image courtesy of Artelino.com

Note: This design (lacking Kunisada's
signature and seal, no doubt because
Kunisada had died in 1920) was originally
issued in a slightly different color scheme
circa May 1919 when Chùsha VII played
this role at the Kabuki-za.

MAY 1924

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as
Matsudaira Izu-no-Kami (松平伊豆守)

Play: Keian Taiheiki (慶安太平記)
Performance Place: Asakusa Shôchiku-
za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 05/03/24
Print Date: 1928?
Artist: Kamishita Chikamine
(神下周峯)
Medium: Woodblock printed
pochibukuro
Series: [Images of Famous Actors of
Today] Tôsei Meiyû Omokage Zôshi
(當世名優面影双紙) [#A]
Personal Collection

JUNE 1924

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as
Higuchi Jirô (樋口次郎), posing as
Matsuemon (松右衛門)

Play: Hirakana Seisuiki (ひらかな盛衰記)
Performance Place: Hongô-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 09/04/24
Print Date: 091924?
Artist: Miyake Hanayama (三宅花山)
Medium: Lithograph
Personal Collection

JANUARY 1925

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as Takechi Mitsuhide
(武智光秀) disguised as the farmer Tajû (太十)

Play: Ehon Taikôki (絵本大功記; 絵本大功記)
Performance Place: Asakusa Shochiku-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 01/01/25
Print Date: 1926
Artist: Natori Shunsen (名取春仙)
Series: Sôsaku Hanga: Shunsen Nigao-e Shû
(創作版画春仙似顔集) (#17)
Personal Collection

Note: Chûsha VII first played Mitsuhide in this play in Tokyo
at the Kabuki-za in May 1919. Prior to his 1925 perform-
ance, he also played this role at the Meiji-za in September
1922, and at the Hongô-za in April 1924. It is possible that
Shunsen based this print on one of those earlier performances.

OCTOBER 1925

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as
Nippon Daemon (日本駄右衛門)

Play: Benten Musume Meo no Shiranami
(弁天娘女男白浪)
Performance Place: Kabuki-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 10/1925
Print Date: 10/1925?
Artist: Miyake Hanayama (三宅花山)
Medium: Lithograph
Personal Collection

Note: Uzaemon XV, Chûsha VII, and Sadanji II also
performed the same roles in a production of Benten Kozô
(弁天小僧) at the Kabuki-za in December 1927. It is
possible that this print reflects Chûsha VII's performance
in that later production.

JANUARY 1929

Ichikawa Sadanji II (市川左団次; 市川左團次) as Marubashi Chuya (丸橋忠弥)

Ichikawa Chùsha VII (市川中車) as Izu no Kami (伊豆守)

Play: Keian Taiheiki (慶安太平記)
Performance Place: Kabuki-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 01/01/29
Print Date: 01/1929?
Medium: Woodblock printed hikifuda
Personal Collection

MAY 1929

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as
Takechi Mitsuhide (武智光秀)

Play: Ehon Taikôki (繪本太功記) (Act X)
Performance Place: Meiji-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 05/01/29
Print Date: 1950 or later
Artist: Ota Gako (太田雅光)
Series: Meifu Miyage Geki no Omokage
(冥府苞苴劇容彩) (#18)
Medium: ?
Image courtesy of the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum

Note: It is unclear if this is a woodblock print, a watercolor
drawing, or a hand-colored keyblock print for an
unpublished design. Chûsha VII died on July 12, 1936 at
age 77. He first played the role of Takechi Mitsuhide in
Tokyo at the Kabuki-za in May 1919. Although Chûsha
II's final Tokyo appearance in this role was at the Kabuki-
za in November 1931, it is possible that Gakô based
this print on one of Chûsha VII's prior performances.

OCTOBER 1935

Ichikawa Chûsha VII (市川中車) as
Kiichi Hôgen (鬼一法眼)

Play: Kiichi Hôgen Sanryaku no Maki (鬼一法眼三略巻)
Performance Place: Kabuki-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 10/01/35
Print Date: c. 1936
Artist: Natori Shunsen (名取春仙)
Personal Collection

Note: This was Chûsha VII's last stage appearance. He
died nine months later on July 12, 1936, and this print
might have been commissioned as a memorial print.