Q&A
The Ichikawa Sōke
Are some kabuki names inherited and others newly created? Are there rules?
ANSWER
Both exist. Myōseki are inherited generation to generation, while haimyō and new names can be created. There is no unified rule — each house follows its own custom.
The Short Version
- A myōseki is a living name, inherited together with its art and its obligations.
- Alongside them stand names of another kind, such as haimyō, which can be newly made or unearthed.
- Danjūrō XIII revived Hakuen, the haimyō of Danjūrō V, taking the name Ichikawa Danjūrō Hakuen.
- No rule spans all houses. A system of names is a family's own history.
See it in a picture
- the myōsekiA living name, inherited across generations.
- the moment ripensArt matured, a memorial year, the right production.
- consultationFamily, school and Shochiku settle it over time.
- the celebratory runCarrying the house's great roles — the de facto trial.
- the kōjōThe new name presented to the audience, on stage.
A kabuki actor does not necessarily have just one name. At the centre stands the myōseki. Ichikawa Danjūrō, Onoe Kikugorō, Matsumoto Kōshirō — such names are at once what a person is called and a vessel handed down through generations. To take one is to assume the art and the obligations it has carried. This is why the count — the ninth, the thirteenth — always follows it.
Beside them runs another kind of name: the haimyō. Originally a haikai sobriquet, it is an elegant name an actor holds apart from his stage name. It is not inherited as strictly as a myōseki, which leaves room for one to be unearthed or newly coined. The present holder's revival of Hakuen — the haimyō used by Danjūrō V — in the name Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII Hakuen is one instance. Names are not only inherited; they can be called back from the past.
As for rules: there is no written code spanning all houses. Which name is taken at which stage, who inherits, when one moves on to the next — all of it has accumulated as the custom of individual families. In one house the name a young actor bears is fixed; in another it is not. There is no need to see this lack of uniformity as a defect. It is precisely why each taking of a name carries a story of its own.
Words Used Above
- Haimyō
- An elegant sobriquet derived from haikai poetry, held apart from the stage name and inherited less strictly.
- "The nth"
- The place in the line of those who have held a name — the mark that it is a vessel handed down.
Words in This Answer
- 名跡myōsekiA myōseki is a historic stage name handed down through generations—in kabuki, the name itself is a vessel of artistry and history.
- 白猿hakuenHakuen, "white monkey," is the literary name originated by Danjūrō V as an emblem of humility—still falling short of the masters—and borne today by Danjūrō XIII.
- 襲名shūmeiShūmei is the succession to a historic stage name—not a mere renaming, but the acceptance of an artistic lineage, its history, and its responsibilities.
More in This Category
Sources & Method
This answer rests on widely shared, established knowledge of kabuki. Matters transmitted as custom are marked "it is said," and assertion is avoided.
- Author
- D-13 Editorial
- Published
- Aug 25, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 25, 2026