Oya Ichijiro was a Japanese actor born in Asakusa Suga, Tokyo. He made his stage debut in 1907 at the age of 13, performing as a child extra in Beggar's Child or Nobleman's Child (乞食の子か大名の子か). He studied under actor Fujii Rokusuke (藤井六輔), adopting the stage name Fujikawa Soroku (藤川宗六), before later performing under his real name.

Oya performed with various Shinpa (新派) theater troupes and co-founded the Shinsei Shinpa (新生新派) theater troupe in 1939, alongside notable actors such as Hanayagi Shotaro (花柳章太郎), Ishii Kan (伊志井寛), Yanagi Eijiro (柳永二郎), Kawaguchi Matsutaro (川口松太郎), and Oe Ryotaro (大江良太郎). He played a key role in the post-war establishment of the Shinpa troupe and became an important member. Actress Oshika Tsugiyo (大鹿次代) was one of his disciples.

Oya passed away on 28 May 1972 at the age of 78 from lung cancer.

(Source: kisskh) Edit Biography