Iwai Hanshirō VIII

Iwai Hanshirō VIII in costume for an onnagata role. Unknown date, c. early Meiji period.

Iwai Hanshirō VIII (岩井半四郎 (8代目), October 2, 1829 – February 19, 1882) was a Japanese kabuki performer, known both for his own work and for his place in the lineage of a family of kabuki actors .^[1] He was the son of Iwai Hanshirō VII.^[2]

Iwai Hanshirō was a stage name with significant cultural and historical connotations.

In the conservative Kabuki world, stage names are passed from father to son in formal system which converts the kabuki stage name into a mark of accomplishment.^[3] This actor assumed the mantle of his father's stage name in 1872.^[2]

Lineage of Iwai stage names

• Iwai Hanshirō I (1652–1699)^[4]
• Iwai Hanshirō II (d. 1710)
• Iwai Hanshirō III (1698–1760)
• Iwai Hanshirō IV (1747–1800) ^[1]
• Iwai Hanshirō V (1776–1847) ^[1]
• Iwai Hanshirō VI (1799–1836)
• Iwai Hanshirō VII (1804–1845)
  

  Posthumous memorial print (shini-e) of Iwai Hanshirō VIII. Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Yōshū Chikanobu 1882
• Iwai Hanshirō VIII (1829–1882)^[5]
• Iwai Hanshirō IX (1882–1945)
• Iwai Hanshirō X (b. 1927) ^[6]

See also

• Shūmei

Notes

1. Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric et al. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia, p. 408., p. 408, at Google Books
2. Leiter, Samuel L. (2006). Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre, p. 134., p. 134, at Google Books
3. Scott, Adolphe C. (1999). The Kabuki Theatre of Japan, p. 159., p. 159, at Google Books
4. Leiter, Historical p. 133., p. 133, at Google Books
5. Scott, pp. 171–172., p. 171, at Google Books
6. Scott, p. 196., p. 196, at Google Books

References

• Leiter, Samuel L. (2006). Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-5527-4; OCLC 238637010
• Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301
• Scott, Adolphe Clarence. (1955). The Kabuki Theatre of Japan. London: Allen & Unwin. OCLC 622644114