Career
His immense popularity helped rōkyoku break into the mainstream. At his height, he performed tales of the Forty-seven ronin to sell-out crowds at some of the biggest theatres in Tokyo and Osaka. These performances also roused nationalist sentiment during Russo-Japanese War.
Tōchūken"s style of reciting left a lasting impression on rōkyoku, and indirectly also on enka, especially the music of Haruo Minami and Hideo Murata.
Mikio Naruse made a biopic about him in 1936.
