Not one man's name.A name handed down.

In kabuki, names outlive people. A historic name handed down through generations is called a myōseki, and taking one is called shūmei. It is not a change of name. It is the acceptance of the artistry and history the name carries, and of the responsibility for what comes next.

The handing-on is not only by blood. Adoption and discipleship have carried the line as well; what decides it is whether the art, the forms and the spirit are received. So 'a descendant of Danjūrō' and 'the one who took the name Danjūrō' do not always mean the same thing.

A succession is announced on stage. The company sits in formal dress and addresses the audience directly in a kōjō — so that the moment a name passes from one person to another is witnessed from the seats.

The present holder styles himself Ichikawa Danjūrō Hakuen. Hakuen — 'white monkey' — is said to derive from the literary name of Danjūrō V, taken as an emblem of humility: still falling short of the true masters.

To the greatest of names he adds a word that says: not yet. The stance is folded into the name itself — that to inherit is not to arrive, but to set out.

The question 'who is Ichikawa Danjūrō?' cannot be answered without naming a period. From the first to the thirteenth, different people have borne the same name. Some in the line never took it in life; it was conferred after their death.

The present holder is the thirteenth. He was Ichikawa Shinnosuke VII, then Ichikawa Ebizō XI, and took the name at the Kabukiza in November 2022. On that same stage his eldest son became Ichikawa Shinnosuke VIII: the names are already moving on again.