(Update) Kabuki Actor Ichikawa Ennosuke Arrested on New Charge of Aiding Father’s Suicide

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:19 JST, July 18, 2023

Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke, arrested on June 27 over suspicion of assisting the suicide of his mother, was rearrested by the Metropolitan Police Department on Tuesday, this time on charges of helping his father take his own life.

The MPD alleges that Ennosuke, 47, provided a large amount of sleeping pills that his father consumed at their home in Meguro Ward, Tokyo, sometime between around 5 p.m. on May 17 and around 10 a.m. on May 18.

Ennosuke, whose real name is Takahiko Kinoshi, has admitted to the charges, the MPD said.

Ennosuke resided with both of his parents, who were found collapsed inside their home on May 18 and later confirmed dead. Ennosuke himself was transported to the hospital during the incident.

His father, the kabuki actor Ichikawa Danshiro whose real name was Hiroyuki Kinoshi, was 76 at the time of his death, and his mother Nobuko Kinoshi was 75.

The cause of the deaths is believed to be psychotropic drug poisoning. Two types of substances in sleeping pills prescribed to Ennosuke were found in the bodies of both of his parents.

During questioning after his arrest for involvement in his mother’s suicide last month, police said the kabuki star said the three had agreed to commit suicide together after a weekly magazine reported claims of harassment against him. He said he grinded the sleeping pills into a powder and mixed it in glasses of water, which he gave to his parents.

Taking into account the lack of external injuries to the bodies, the MPD has determined there are no discrepancies between Ennosuke’s statements and the circumstantial evidence.