Iwai Hanshiro VIII

Who was Iwai Hanshiro VIII?

Iwai Hanshiro VIII was a Japanese kabuki performer, known both for his own work and for his place in the lineage of a family of kabuki actors . He was the son of Iwai Hanshiro VII.

Iwai Hanshiro 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. This actor assumed the mantle of his father's stage name in 1872.

⁕Iwai Hanshiro I

⁕Iwai Hanshiro II

⁕Iwai Hanshiro III

⁕Iwai Hanshiro IV

⁕Iwai Hanshiro V

⁕Iwai Hanshiro VI

⁕Iwai Hanshiro VII Posthumous memorial print of Iwai Hanshiro VIII. Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Yōshū Chikanobu 1882

⁕Iwai Hanshiro VIII

⁕Iwai Hanshiro IX

⁕Iwai Hanshiro X