 A devout follower of Fudō Myōō, one of Japan's Thirteen Buddhas, Danjūrō was the first to perform as Fudō onstage, and founded the actors' guild Naritaya, named after the Fudō temple Narita Fudōson.Born in Japan's capital of Edo in 1660, he first performed at the age of 13 at the Nakamura-za, under the name Ichikawa Ebizō.The first to take the name Ebizō, he was thus the founder or originator of this prestigious actor lineage as well.