立役

Tachiyaku means the male roles of kabuki, and the actors who specialize in them. The word is said to derive from tachikata, the "standing performers," as opposed to the seated musicians. It is the counterpart of onnagata, and in a narrower sense refers to the good male characters as opposed to the villains.

The tachiyaku art divides further into styles: the bold aragoto of Edo, the gentle wagoto of the Kyoto–Osaka region, and the upright, level-headed jitsugoto. Tachiyaku actors have traditionally stood at the center of a troupe, usually serving as its leader.

To savor the tachiyaku art on stage, look to Musashibō Benkei in Kanjinchō, one of the Kabuki Jūhachiban and a celebrated summit among tachiyaku roles. The tense mountain-ascetic dialogue with the barrier keeper Togashi, the bravura reading of a blank subscription scroll—strength, wisdom, and loyalty are concentrated into a single act.

The word has also traveled beyond the theatre: tateyakusha, the everyday Japanese term for the key figure behind an achievement, is said to derive from the tachiyaku at the heart of a troupe. In headlines about a championship or a business success, the language of kabuki lives on.

The Ichikawa Danjūrō line is one of the great tachiyaku families of Edo kabuki. Aragoto, said to have been founded by Danjūrō I, is a pillar of the tachiyaku art, and Danjūrō XIII carries the lineage today—performing the hero of Sukeroku at his name-succession productions.