Ichikawa Ennosuke IV given suspended three-year prison term

The Tokyo District Court sentenced kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke IV to three years in prison on Friday, suspended for five years, over his involvement in his parents’ deaths by suicide.

The 47-year-old, whose real name is Takahiko Kinoshi, had been on trial over his role in a family suicide pact. The plan was enacted at his residence in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward on the night of May 17 and lasted into the following day.

Prosecutors had sought three years in prison.

Presiding Judge Kenji Yasunaga said Ennosuke’s acts were short-sighted and said he should bear criminal responsibility, adding he played a large role in the death of his parents.

“Even considering the defendant's thought process at the time of the crime, assuming it was narrow due to personal circumstances, there are not many factors in the circumstances and motives leading to the crime” that could be used as the basis for leniency, he said.

However, the judge handed down a suspended sentence in consideration of how Ennosuke, who also attempted to take his own life, has shown remorse and pledged to never commit a crime again.

According to the ruling, Ennosuke gave his father — Hiroyuki, 76, who was also a famous kabuki actor and known as Ichikawa Danshiro — and his mother, Nobuko, 75, an excessive amount of sleeping pills, resulting in their deaths. Ennosuke crushed the pills with a hammer and mixed them into flavored water so that it would be painless for the parents, it said.

His mother was found dead at the scene, while his father’s death was confirmed at a hospital, the ruling said.

The trigger for the incident was an article in a weekly magazine about Ennosuke’s alleged bullying and sexual harassment of actors and staffers in his theater collective.

In a first trial hearing on Oct. 20, Ennosuke admitted to having searched for ways to kill himself after the magazine notified him of its plans for the article, believing that suicide was his only option. He then told his parents of his plans, but his mother said that they “can’t let you go alone,” to which his father agreed, Ennosuke said.

During the hearing, Ennosuke denied requesting that his parents kill themselves together with him and expressed remorse at what had transpired.

Furthermore, he admitted that he had experienced depression in various stages of his life and had trouble opening up, which contributed to his decision.

The kabuki actor began his career in the early 1980s and became a major figure in the art form, following in his father’s footsteps. He has also appeared in several popular television series.

During the hearing, the actor expressed his intention to continue his career after the trial, saying that he would like to “make amends through kabuki.”