Born into a merchant family in Hakata, Chikuzen (Fukuoka).
Around this time he joined the Freedom and People's Rights Movement, drawing crowds with his speeches.
His satirical "Oppekepe" song made him hugely popular, and he started a new kind of theatre in Tokyo.
He married the former geisha Sadayakko.
He took his troupe on tour in America and Europe, performing at the Paris Exposition; Sadayakko became a sensation.
He staged adaptations of Shakespeare, such as Othello, in Japanese settings.
He opened the Western-style Teikokuza theatre in Osaka.
He died of illness in Osaka.
Nitobe InazōOkakura Kakuzō (Tenshin)Tsuda UmekoFutabatei ShimeiKuroda SeikiNatsume SōsekiMasaoka ShikiToyoda Sakichi
People of the Meiji period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.