Ichikawa Ebizo XI is the eleventh and current holder of the Ebizo name. He is a famous Kabuki, television and film actor and heir to the prestigious Ichikawa clan of kabuki actors.

The son of Ichikawa Danjuro XII, he was born in Tokyo and began his career at the age of six in a 1983 play of Genji Monogatari. In 1985 he was bestowed the name Ichikawa Shinnosuke VII and continued to perform in kabuki under this name until 2003. He made his first television appearance in 1994 in the NHK Taiga drama, Hanna no Ran, which starred his father.

In 2002-2003, he had a starring television role as the great samurai, Miyamoto Musashi, in the NHK drama, Musashi. After the series ended, he starred again as the great warrior in a kabuki drama. He would go on to take part in several plays before his name was changed to Ebizo XI in May 2004.

He has appeared in several commercials, and in his first film role, Deguchi no Nai Umi, (Sea With No Exit) in 2006. He toured Europe, Australia and various other prefectures in Japan doing kabuki. In 2007 he was awarded the L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres after a performance at the Palais Garnier in Paris. A total of twelve performances of Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura by the Shochiku Grand Kabuki featuring Ebizo were held at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London from June 4 to 15, 2010.

On November 25, 2010, he was assaulted in the early morning hours while out drinking with Kabuka friends in Tokyo's Nishi-Azabu area. According to the Japanese press, he forced the man to drink tequila from an ashtray. Ebizo returned home, where his wife Kobayashi Mao discovered his wounds, which included a depressed fracture to a cheekbone and severe bruising, and called the police, after which he was rushed to Toranomon Hospital. As a result of the injuries suffered there was speculation that Ebizo may have had to retire, being unable to do the cross-eyed nirami glare important in kabuki leads. Theatre operator Shochiku suspended him from kabuki as a result of the incident.

He starred in Takashi Miike's 2011 3D remake of Hara-Kiri. On July 2, 2011, Ebizõ returned to the stage at the July Grand Kabuki performance at the Shinbashi playhouse in Tokyo. In 2015, he was appointed the sightseeing ambassador of Narita City.

His father, Ishikawa Danjuro XII died in 2013. He was married to Mao Kobayashi, an actress and presenter in March 2010 up until her death in 2017 from breast cancer which he announced to the public through an emergency press conference. . On July 25th, 2011 Mao gave birth to their first daughter.

In 2019, he announced his intentions to take up the stage name Danjuro. From May 2020, he will be known as Ishikawa Danjuro XIII. However, with the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the naming ceremony cannot be held and hence he still continues holding the current title. He performed a kabuki dance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics opening ceremony.

(Source: Wikipedia, Japan Times) Edit Biography