Mao Kobayashi pregnant with second child

On November 18th, it was reported that kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo�fs wife, newscaster Kobayashi Mao is pregnant with their second child. According to her agency, Kobayashi is currently 6 months pregnant and the gender of the baby is unknown.

The two started dating after meeting on NTV�fs �eNEWS ZERO�e back in 2009, and registered their marriage on March 3, 2010. They welcomed their first child, Reika, on July 25th last year. Kobayashi has temporarily put a halt to her activities and is devoting herself to child-rearing and supporting Ebizo.

Source: Oricon

Ebizo Ichikawa and Mao Kobayashi welcome their 2nd child

On March 23rd, kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo�fs wife, announcer Kobayashi Mao gave birth to their 2nd child.

According to an official announcement, Kobayashi gave birth to a baby boy weighing at 2982 grams (6lbs 9oz) on the 22nd. Both mother and baby are healthy.

Ichikawa�fs father Ichikawa Danjuro passed away on February 3rd due to leukemia. Ebizo commented on the birth of his son saying, �gA healthy baby boy was born. I feel the weight of joy and responsibility welcoming a new member into our family. I will raise him with love in part on behalf of my deceased father, who was looking forward to his birth.�h

Ebizo and Mao got married in March of 2010 and welcomed their first daughter in July of 2011.

Source: Oricon

Nice interview in the Japan Times: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2013/10/03/stage/ebizo-rethinks-kabukis-strategy/#.UlqEcirn_io

Ebizo Ichikawa to appear in NTV drama 'Yowakutemo Katemasu Aoshi-sensei to Heppoko Koukou Kyuuji no Yabou'

Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo will be acting in a drama for the first time in 5 years as he plays a former baseball player-turned-coach and the rival of Ninomiya Kazunari's character in the NTV Spring 2014 drama "Yowakutemo Katemasu Aoshi-sensei to Heppoko Koukou Kyuuji no Yabou". The drama will begin its run from 12 April at 9pm on Saturdays.

Ichikawa plays the role of Yachida Kentaro who was the former ace of Doutou Senior High School's famous baseball team which won the Koshien. At that time, Yachida also beat Tamo Aoshi (Ninomiya) during one of the matches in the tournament. After graduation, Yachida became a professional player but had to retire due to a shoulder injury. He returns to his alma mater to become the special coach of the baseball team and reunites with his old-time rival as Tamo is the coach of the weak baseball team from Odawara Jotoku Senior High School which is trying to win the Koshien as well.

Ichikawa last appeared in the TBS 2009 drama "MR. BRAIN". He commented that it has been a long time since he appeared in a TV drama and he is happy at the thought of working with Ninomiya and hopes to make the drama interesting together with the young cast. On the other hand, Ninomiya said that although they play rivals in the drama, he thinks that everyone will get along very well on the set.

Source: Sanspo

I don't know if Betsy Hayashi has ever been to New York, but now she's got a good reason to go.

Ebizo Ichikawa to perform at Carnegie Hall on March 1st:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8OMahHFrZU&feature=em-subs_digest

Sending prayers :

Mao Kobayashi suffering from breast cancer

Ichikawa Ebizo announced through a last-minute press conference at 3pm on 9 June that his wife Kobayashi Mao is currently suffering from breast cancer. The announcement was in response to reports surfacing in some media outlets that Mao is very ill due to an advanced stage of cancer so the move was meant to stop speculation about Mao's condition and prevent the reporters who were outside his house from causing disturbance and inconveniences to his family and neighbours and avoid disrupting his children's lives.

Ichikawa confirmed that they found out about Mao's condition one year and eight months ago when they went for a body checkup together. Since then, Mao has been under treatment but the progression of the illness was much faster than expected. She is in the midst of chemotherapy which doesn't seem to be working effectively so there is a likelihood that she has to go for surgery. Mao was apparently hospitalised for a while and was only allowed to go home recently. Ichikawa said that surgery was not an option initially since it was difficult to reach the affected spot so chemotherapy was selected as the first treatment method.

Ichikawa recounted that when he first heard of Mao's diagnosis, he was at his wits' end and didn't know what to say. However, he thinks that she is having it worse than him because Mao is battling to get well and feels sorry for not being around to be with her children.

Ichikawa and Mao met each other through an interview she conducted while working as a newscaster for NTV's "NEWS ZERO" in 2006 and they got married in March 2010. Reika was born in July 2011 while Kangen was born in March 2013.

Source: Sponichi Annex / Daily Sports / Sanspo

^ But she is not letting it get her down. She has started a blog "Kokoro":http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37861457

Link to the blog here:http://ameblo.jp/maokobayashi0721/

gaijinmark wrote:

Mao Kobayashi suffering from breast cancer

And now she is gone.

Mao Kobayashi passes away from breast cancer

Kobayashi Mao passed away on 22 June at the age of 34 due to breast cancer. She leaves behind her husband Ichikawa Ebizo and two children i.e. Reika who is 5 years old and Kangen who is 4 years old.

Kobayashi was first diagnosed with the illness back in October 2014 during a medical check-up and had been battling it quietly before her husband Ichikawa Ebizo had to reveal his wife's condition in June last year amid media speculations. At that time, she was already in such a serious condition that surgery was not an option. 3 months after the revelation, Kobayashi started her own blog to share her thoughts and experience while undergoing treatment. During this period, Kobyashi had been going in and out of the hospital as her condition was rather unstable. On 22 April this year, she went through surgery where it was found that the cancer had spread to her jaw. After being discharged from the hospital on 29 May, she had been undergoing treatment at home and mentioned in her blog entry on 4 June that she had a fever of 39 degrees Celsius. Unfortunately, despite her valiant efforts in trying to overcome the illness, her condition still did not improve in the end.

Kobayashi entered showbiz in 2002 when she was still a student at Sophia University after appearing in the NTV programme "Koi no karasawagi" with her elder sister Kobayashi Maya who is a freelance announcer now. She became the weather forecaster in FujiTV's "Mezamashi Doyoubi" from 2003 and appeared in a number of dramas such as 2005 FujiTV drama "Slow Dance", 2006 FujiTV drama "Unfair", 2006 TBS drama "Oishii Propose" and "Taiyou no Uta". She then became the newscaster on NTV's "NEWS ZERO" from 2006 and met her husband Ichikawa during an interview in December 2008. The couple started dating in June 2009 before getting married in March the following year. Their daughter was born in 2011 while their son was born in 2013.

In the morning of 23 June, Ichikawa updated his blog where he said that today is the day when he cried the most in his life and asked for the media gathered outside his house to leave as it was causing a disturbance to his neighbors. He also said that he would be holding a press conference later in the afternoon.

After completing his daytime performance "Ichikawa Ebizo Dai Yonkai Jishu Kouen ABKAI 2017 ~ Ishikawa Goemon Gaiden ~" at Theatre Cocoon Bunkamura, Ichikawa held a press conference at 2.37pm to break the news that his wife had passed away at home the previous night. He revealed that while at work yesterday, he got a LINE message from his mother-in-law about Kobayashi's worsening condition and rushed home to see her. Although she had been unable to speak yesterday, she managed to say "I love you" to her husband before she breathed her last. Ichikawa also explained why he decided to hold the press conference because there were so many media personnel gathered outside his place so he had to make a proper announcement earlier than when he and his family had planned to do so.

When asked how his children are coping, Ichikawa said that Reika had been sticking to her mother and slept by her side yesterday so he thought that she understood what was happening. As for Kangen, he appeared to understand but not entirely and kept touching his mother's face and feet. Although he doesn't think that he will be able to make up fully for the loss of their mother, he pledged to do his best for his children.

Sources: Sanspo / Nikkansports 1 / Yomiuri Hochi / Nikkansports 2 / Nikkansports 3

Time to put this thread on a happier course.

Ebizo Ichikawa to assume stage name Danjuro

Kabuki star Ichikawa Ebizo says he will assume his family's prestigious stage name of Danjuro next year.

Ebizo told reporters at the Kabukiza theater in Tokyo on Monday that he will become the 13th actor to use the name Ichikawa Danjuro, beginning with a performance in May next year.

The stage name has been handed down through generations since the 17th century. Ebizo's father, who died 6 years ago, was Ichikawa Danjuro the 12th.

Ebizo said his 5-year-old son, Kangen Horikoshi, will take the name of Ichikawa Shinnosuke the 8th.

Source: Japan Times

^ Now it's official: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20220531/p2g/00m/0et/044000c

NHK will be airing a special about the name change and his career on December 30th or 31st depending on where you live: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/worldprime/20221231/3016138/