In June, the Omodakaya kabuki clan carried out its first succession ceremony in 49 years, when the head of the clan, Ichikawa Ennosuke, incapacitated by a stroke some years ago, passed his name to his nephew, Kamejiro. Ennosuke's own son did not undergo traditional kabuki training as a child because Ennosuke divorced his wife, actress Yuko Hama, when the boy was very young. That boy grew up to be popular film actor Teruyuki Kagawa, who finally received kabuki training as an adult and took the clan name Ichikawa Chusha.
On Thursday, NHK will present "Shin Ennosuke Tanjo" ("A New Ennosuke is Born"; NHK-G, 7:30 p.m.), which chronicles the 12 months leading up to Kamejiro's assuming of his uncle's legacy, one of the more unusual in kabuki since the former Ichikawa Ennosuke was instrumental in modernizing the theatrical art form with flashy production design called Super Kabuki.
'Kenkaku Shobai: Gorochu Ansatsu" (A Swordsman's Trade: Senior Lord Assassin"; Fuji TV,Fri., 9 p.m.) is based on a popular series of historical novels by the late Shotaro Ikenami that sold upward of 18 million copies. The hero is an assassin named Kohei (Kinya Kitaoji), who is older than the usual hired killer.