屋号

A yagō is the hereditary "shop name" of a kabuki family, a custom said to date from the Edo period, when actors adopted trade names like merchants. The Danjūrō family's yagō, Naritaya, is linked to the family's devotion to Naritasan Shinshōji temple and is counted among the oldest of all kabuki house names.

Yagō are not unique to the Ichikawa Sōke. The Onoe Kikugorō line is Otowaya, the Matsumoto Kōshirō line Kōraiya, the Nakamura Kanzaburō line Nakamuraya—each house bears its own storied name, many said to derive from a founder's origins or a theatre proprietor's name. Learn the yagō, and behind each actor on stage you begin to see the history of a house.

One story is handed down about the birth of "Naritaya": Danjūrō I, long without a child, prayed at Naritasan Shinshōji temple and was blessed with the son who would become Danjūrō II. When, in gratitude, he staged a play honoring the deity Fudō Myōō, it proved a triumph—and cries of "Naritaya!" rose from the house. This is said to be the origin of the yagō, and the bond between the Ichikawa Sōke and Naritasan endures to this day.

In the theatre you will hear spectators shout "Naritaya!" at a mie or a dramatic entrance. Calling the house name is applause not only for the actor on stage but for the generations of artistry the family carries.