famous actor print seen here, though produced for a 1697 performance, depicts Danjūrō in the same role, that of Soga Gorō. Serving as playwright as well as actor, Danjūrō produced a number of works, several of which were early forms of plays extremely popular later in the Edo period and still performed today, though they have undergone great changes over the centuries. Two of these such plays are Narukami, written and premiered in 1684, and Shibaraku, in 1697. The Genroku period marked the peak of Edo period extravagance and hedonism. Danjūrō was one of the most popular actors in Edo in this period, alongside Nakamura Shichisaburō I and Nakamura Denkurō I. The first aragoto performance in Kyoto was that of Genji Musha Homare no Seiriki in 1694; the following year, Danjūrō would be featured in the Edo hyōbanki, a popular publication ranking actors and performances, as jō-jō-kichi (上々吉, higher-higher-excellent) and his annual salary would reach 500 ryō. Over the course of his career, Danjūrō performed in, and wrote, a great number of plays. Unlike many later actors, he was not particularly faithful to any one theater, and moved back and forth between them many times. He also performed alongside his son, Ichikawa Kuzō, who would later take his father's name and become Ichikawa Danjūrō II. Danjūrō is said to have also been the first kabuki actor to write haiku and to take a poetry name (haimyō). While performing at the Ichimura-za on 24 March 1704, Danjūrō was stabbed and killed in his dressing room by fellow actor Ikushima Hanroku. See also Shūmei Ichikawa Danjūrō – overview of name and succession Ichikawa Danjūrō XIII – current head of the line Ichikawa Danjūrō XII Ichikawa Ebizō XI Notes References Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ; OCLC 48943301 External links Ichikawa Danjūrō I at Kabuki21.com Audio recording of Ichikawa Danjuro I's play Narukami at LostPlays.com 1660 births 1704 deaths Kabuki actors Japanese murder victims People murdered in Japan Actors from Chiba Prefecture 17th-century Japanese male actors 18th-century Japanese male actors