He could perform all types of roles, including tachiyaku, oyama, katakiyaku (a hate figure) and fukeyaku (a role of an aged person), but he showed his real ability in roles as a lover, inherited from his father Ganjiro, the first, and Kamigata wagoto influenced by Enjaku, the second, such as tsukkorobashi (a weak and feeble but somehow comical nimaime in Kamigata wagoto).
立役、女形、敵役、老役とあらゆる役種をこなしたが、本領は父・初代鴈治郎ゆずりの二枚目と二代目延若の影響を受けたつっころばしなどの上方和事にある。