Houses (Yagō)

Naritaya is the yagō (house name) of the Ichikawa Danjūrō family. Its house art is the aragoto style of Edo kabuki, and it carries the Kabuki Jūhachiban, the eighteen plays chosen by Danjūrō VII. The family is also called the Ichikawa Sōke; its current head is Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII (Hakuen).

Names: Ichikawa Danjūrō / Ichikawa Ebizō / Ichikawa Shinnosuke / Ichikawa Botan

Otowaya is the yagō (house name) of the Onoe Kikugorō family. The Kabuki Encyclopedia describes the Onoe house as an Edo-kabuki family centred on the name Kikugorō, 'skilled for generations in sewamono' (domestic plays); its house art is the Shinko Engeki Jisshu established by Kikugorō V. The current Onoe Kikugorō, the eighth, took the name in May 2025.

Names: Onoe Kikugorō / Onoe Kikunosuke / Onoe Shōroku

Matsushimaya is the yagō (house name) of the Kataoka Nizaemon family. The Kabuki Encyclopedia describes the Kataoka house as a Kamigata (Osaka–Kyoto) family; Kataoka Nizaemon I was active mainly in Osaka from the Genroku era. Its house art is the Kataoka Jūnishū, a set of plays performed by Nizaemon XI. The current Kataoka Nizaemon, the fifteenth, took the name in January 1998.

Names: Kataoka Nizaemon / Kataoka Takatarō / Kataoka Ainosuke

Omodakaya is the yagō (house name) of the Ichikawa Ennosuke family. The Kabuki Encyclopedia says the line became well known from Ichikawa Danshirō II, a pupil of Danjūrō IX active in the Meiji and Taishō eras, and that Ennosuke II (later En'ō I) and Ennosuke III (later En'ō II) brought new life to kabuki through dance, new works and Super Kabuki. Its house art is the Omodaka Jisshu, established by Ennosuke III.

Names: Ichikawa Ennosuke / Ichikawa Chūsha / Ichikawa Danko

Harimaya is the yagō (house name) of the Nakamura Kichiemon family (the Karoku–Kichiemon line). The Kabuki Encyclopedia records that Nakamura Karoku I was a pupil of Nakamura Utaemon III and that the line was Osaka-born down to Karoku III. Karoku III's son, Nakamura Kichiemon I, was a leading actor of the Taishō and Shōwa eras, and the house art, the Shūzan Jisshu, gathers his specialities.

Names: Nakamura Kichiemon / Nakamura Karoku / Nakamura Matagorō / Nakamura Kashō

Kōraiya is the yagō (house name) of the Matsumoto Kōshirō family. The Kabuki Encyclopedia's entry on the Matsumoto house records a long and close relationship with the Ichikawa Danjūrō family, noting that Kōshirō II later became Ichikawa Danjūrō IV and Kōshirō III later Danjūrō V. Benkei in Kanjinchō has been performed by four generations of this house, from Kōshirō VII to the present holder.

Names: Matsumoto Kōshirō / Matsumoto Hakuō / Ichikawa Somegorō

Nakamuraya is the yagō (house name) of the Nakamura Kanzaburō family. The Kabuki Encyclopedia's entry on the Nakamura house (Kanzaburō line) describes it as the family of the proprietors of the Nakamura-za. Those proprietors took the name Nakamura Kanzaburō from generation to generation; from Kanzaburō XVII, active in the Shōwa era, the family has been actors by profession. Its present members include Nakamura Kankurō VI and Nakamura Shichinosuke II.

Names: Nakamura Kanzaburō / Nakamura Kankurō / Nakamura Shichinosuke

Narikomaya is the yagō (house name) of the Nakamura Shikan family. According to the Kabuki Actor Directory, the current Nakamura Shikan, the eighth, took the name at the Kabukiza in October–November 2016. Those who carry the house's names are sons or grandsons of Shikan VII. Nakamura Utaemon V was known for the role of Yodogimi, and the Yodogimi-shū, gathering his signature roles, is handed down as the house art.

Names: Nakamura Shikan / Nakamura Fukusuke / Nakamura Kotarō / Nakamura Hashinosuke

Narikomaya is the yagō of the Nakamura Ganjirō family. It is written with the character for 'house' (家), distinguishing it from the Nakamura Shikan family's Narikomaya written with 'shop' (屋) (Kabuki Actor Directory). A house of Kamigata kabuki, its art is the Ganjirō Jūnikyoku, gathering the signature roles of Ganjirō I. The current Ganjirō, the fourth, took the name at the Osaka Shōchikuza in January–February 2015.

Names: Nakamura Ganjirō / Nakamura Senjaku / Nakamura Kazutarō / Nakamura Toranosuke

Kyōya is the yagō (house name) of the Nakamura Jakuemon family. According to the Kabuki Actor Directory, the current Nakamura Jakuemon, the fifth, is the second son of Jakuemon IV; he took the name at the Kabukiza in March 2016 as Tokihime in Kamakura Sandaiki and Yukihime in the Kinkakuji scene of Gion Sairei Shinkōki.

Names: Nakamura Jakuemon

Kagaya is the yagō (house name) of the Nakamura Tōzō family. According to the Kabuki Actor Directory, both Nakamura Tōzō VI and Nakamura Kaishun II were adopted, or adopted as artistic heirs, by Nakamura Utaemon VI, and their debut names carried 'Kagaya'. Tōzō was recognised in 2016 as a Living National Treasure (holder of an Important Intangible Cultural Property).

Names: Nakamura Tōzō / Nakamura Kaishun / Nakamura Matsue / Nakamura Tamatarō

Takasagoya is the yagō (house name) of the Nakamura Baigyoku family. According to the Kabuki Actor Directory, the current Nakamura Baigyoku, the fourth, was adopted by Nakamura Utaemon VI and took the name at the Kabukiza in April 1992 as Konoshita Tōkichi in Kinkakuji and Mitsugi in Ise Ondo. He was recognised in 2022 as a Living National Treasure.

Names: Nakamura Baigyoku

Takashimaya is the yagō (house name) of the Ichikawa Sadanji family. Its house art is the Kyōka Gikyoku Jisshu — 'Kyōka' was the haiku name of Ichikawa Sadanji II — distinctive for gathering modern plays written by Okamoto Kidō and others. Ichikawa Sadanji IV (1940–2023) is listed in the 'actors remembered' section of the Kabuki Actor Directory.

Names: Ichikawa Sadanji

Takinoya is the yagō (house name) of the Ichikawa Omezō family. According to the Kabuki Actor Directory, Ichikawa Omezō VI is the eldest son of Ichikawa Sadanji IV, and Ichikawa Otora VII his eldest son in turn. The Sadanji family's yagō is Takashimaya, but the Directory records the yagō of these two as Takinoya.

Names: Ichikawa Omezō / Ichikawa Otora

Tachibanaya is the yagō (house name) of the Ichimura Uzaemon family. Ichimura Uzaemon XV (1874–1945), whom the Kabuki Actor Directory describes as the foremost popular actor from the mid-Taishō era onward, was a nimaime leading man; the Kae-shū, gathering his signature roles, is the house art. The house is connected with the Ichimura-za, and the name Ichimura Kakitsu was once borne by Onoe Kikugorō V and by Uzaemon XV himself.

Names: Ichimura Uzaemon / Ichimura Kakitsu / Ichimura Manjirō / Ichimura Takematsu

Kinokuniya is the yagō (house name) of the Sawamura Sōjūrō family. Its house art is the Kōga Jisshu — 'Kōga' was the haiku name of Sōjūrō VII — described by the Kabuki Play Guide as carrying the flavour handed down since Sōjūrō V, who excelled in the wagoto of Edo. Sōjūrō VII through IX are listed in the 'actors remembered' section of the Kabuki Actor Directory.

Names: Sawamura Sōjūrō / Sawamura Tōjūrō / Sawamura Sōnosuke / Sawamura Kiyoshirō

Yorozuya is the yagō (house name) of the Nakamura Tokizō family. According to the Kabuki Actor Directory, the name was established in 1971 when Yorozuya Kinnosuke changed it from Harimaya. The current holder of the name Nakamura Tokizō, the sixth, took it at the Kabukiza in June 2024.

Names: Nakamura Tokizō / Nakamura Manju / Nakamura Baishi / Nakamura Shidō / Nakamura Kinnosuke