A few years ago, ten-year-old Maholo Terajima dreamed of either becoming a professional footballer or a 'Kamen Rider' superhero star. Now, however, Maholo has his sights set on following in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather and legendary kabuki actor Kikugoro Onoe VII, and is set to make his debut at Tokyo's Kabukiza theatre this May under the stage name Maholo Onoe.
The son of French creative director Laurent Ghnassia and actress Shinobu Terajima ('Earwig and the Witch', 'Oh Lucy!'), Maholo comes from the famous Onoe acting dynasty, which dates back to the 18th century. He developed an interest in kabuki from a very young age and began studying the traditional Japanese theatre with his grandfather at the tender age of three.
With time, his passion for kabuki has only intensified. Maholo appeared in his first kabuki play in 2017, but this upcoming performance in May will mark his official entry into the world of kabuki as a professional actor, as he will use his new stage name for the first time.
One would think that being the heir of such a prominent family name would come with a tremendous amount of pressure, but when he appeared for his press conference last week, the young actor seemed entirely unfazed by the media attention.
'I asked him to rehearse his speech several times to prepare for this, but he completely ignored my request and went straight off to school this morning', Shinobu said. 'He's stubborn in ways that are both good and bad'.
Maholo didn't appear to need extra practice, however, as he addressed the audience in both Japanese and French. Now fondly dubbed as 'The Little Prince of Kabuki' by the media, Maholo shared his ambitions of performing kabuki in his father's home country and introducing more French people to traditional Japanese theatre.
The official programme for Maholo Onoe's upcoming performance in May has yet to be announced but will become available in due time. In the meantime, you can see the current productions at Kabukiza here.
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