Stage names:

Sakata Hangorô III
Bandô Kumajûrô I
Bandô Kumajirô	|

Guild: Shôgatsuya

Line number: SANDAIME (III)

Existence: 1756 ~ 6th day of the 6th lunar month of 1795 ^[1]

Connections:

Masters: Sakata Hangorô II, Ichimura Uzaemon IX

Disciple: Sakata Hangorô IV (?) ^[2]

Career:

1756 ~ 1771: born in Edo. He started his career at the Ichimuraza as a disciple of Ichimura Uzaemon IX, who gave him the name of Bandô Kumajirô.

11th lunar month of 1771: Bandô Kumajirô took the name of Bandô Kumajûrô I at the Ichimuraza, performing as a katakiyaku in the kaomise drama "Kono Hana Yotsugi no Hachinoki".

1771 ~ 1782: he became disciple of the actor Sakata Hangorô II at an unknown date.

17th day of the 5th lunar month of 1782 ^[3]: his master Sakata Hangorô II died.

11th lunar month of 1783: Bandô Kumajûrô I took the name of Sakata Hangorô III at the Moritaza, playing the role of Aoyagi Midorinosuke in the kaomise drama "Ono no Terusaki Yuki no Akebono".

25th day of the 8th lunar month of 1785 ^[4]: his first master Ichimura Uzaemon IX died.

11th lunar month of 1788: Hangorô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Mitsuhide in Sakurada Jisuke I's kaomise drama "Tôzumô Hana no Edokata", which celebrated the return in Edo of the actor Nakamura Nakazô I.

11th lunar month of 1791: Hangorô played at the Ichimuraza the roles of Iga Heinai and Tametomo in the kaomise drama "Kinme Nuki Genji no Kakutsuba", which celebrated the shûmei of Ichikawa Ebizô and Ichikawa Danjûrô VI.

7th lunar month of 1794: premiere at the Miyakoza of the drama "Keisei Sanbon Karakasa"; Hangorô played the roles of the shûgyôsha Kannonbô and Daizen Terutsura [more details].

11th lunar month of 1794: Hangorô performed at the Kiriza in the kaomise drama "Otokoyama Oedo no Ishizue".

1st lunar month of 1795: Hangorô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, was one black stroke jô-jô-(hanshiro)kichi (superior - superior - (half-white) excellent) [visual] in one hyôbanki and jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual] in another hyôbanki.

3rd lunar month of 1795: Hangorô appeared on stage for the last time, in Edo at the Kiriza, where he played the role of Mitsuhide in the drama "Toki ha Ima Kuruwa no Hanamichi".

6th day of the 6th lunar month of 1795 ^[1]: Hangorô died in Edo.

Comments:

Sakata Hangorô III was a good katakiyaku of the second half of the 18th century. His forte were jitsuaku roles, notably the role of Takechi Mitsuhide in Taikôki dramas.

[1] The 6th day of the 6th lunar month of the 7th year of the Kansei era was the 21st of July 1795 in the western calendar.

[2] Sakata Hangorô IV was born in 1793, two years before the passing away of Sakata Hangorô III in 1795. Difficult to report that Sakata Hangorô IV was a disciple of Sakata Hangorô III.

[3] The 17th day of the 5th lunar month of the 2nd year of the Tenmei era was the 27th of June 1782 in the western calendar.

[4] The 25th day of the 8th lunar month of the 5th year of the Tenmei era was the 28th of September 1785 in the western calendar.

Sakata Hangorô III playing the role of Ki no Natora in the drama "Komachi-mura Shibai no Shôgatsu", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1789 at the Nakamuraza (print made by Katsukawa Shunkô)

Prints & Illustrations

The Bandô Kumajûrô line of actors

The Sakata Hangorô line of actors