Stage name:

Tomizawa Hanzaburô

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Existence: ???

Connection:

Masters: Nakamura Denkurô I, Tomizawa Samanosuke I

Son: Tomizawa Genzô

Disciples: Tomizawa Montarô I, Narumi Goroshirô I

Career:

Before 1684: he started his career in Kamigata as a disciple of Tomizawa Samanosuke I, who gave him the name of Tomizawa Hanzaburô I and trained him as a wakaonnagata.

1684: Hanzaburô settled in Edo.

1685: under the patronage of Nakamura Denkurô I, he became tachiyaku.

11th lunar month of 1702: Hanzaburô became jitsuaku.

1st lunar month of 1704: Hanzaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, was jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual]. He played at the Yamamuraza the role of Gentayû in the new year drama "Genji Aioi Jûnidan".

5th lunar month of 1706: Hanzaburô played for the first time the role of Kobayashi no Asahina, with the support of Nakamura Denkurô I, in the drama "Ôyakata Yotsugi Soga", which was staged at the Ichimuraza.

3rd lunar month of 1707: Hanzaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, was jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1707: Hanzaburô became tachiyaku and played at the Nakamuraza the role of the senior retainer Hatano no Gorô in the kaomise drama "Suô no Naishi Azuma Nishiki", which welcomed in Edo the actor Arashi Kiyosaburô I.

2nd lunar month of 1708: Hanzaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1709: Hanzaburô played at the Moritaza the role of Minamoto no Tametomo in the kaomise drama "Tametomo Furiwakegami".

1st lunar month of 1710: Hanzaburô played in the same theater the role of Kobayashi no Asahina in the new year sogamono drama "Kaishun Soga".

3rd lunar month of 1710: Hanzaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].

25th day of the 10th lunar month of 1713 ^[1]: his second master Nakamura Denkurô I died.

11th lunar month of 1714: Hanzaburô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Wada Saemon in the kaomise drama "Banmin Daifukuchô".

1st lunar month of 1715: Hanzaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual]. He played in the same theater the role of Kobayashi no Asahina in the new year sogamono drama "Bandô Ichi Kotobuki Soga".

11th lunar month of 1715: Hanzaburô played at the Moritaza the role of Akamatsu Mushanosuke in Mitsushima Shichirôzaemon's drama "Hayazaki Onna Shimabara".

5th lunar month of 1717: Hanzaburô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Kanki in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Kokusen'ya Takarabune" [casting].

11th lunar month of 1717: Hanzaburô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Sano no Gentôta in the kaomise drama "Hachinoki Hônen Mitsugimono".

2nd lunar month of 1720: Hanzaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1720: Hanzaburô became jitsuaku and played at the Nakamuraza the role of the villain Katsuta no Jirô (disguised as the print master Torii Kiyonobu!) in the kaomise drama "Michinoku Taiheiki".

1st lunar month of 1721: Hanzaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, was jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent); he played in the same theater the role of Kudô Saemon Suketsune in the new year sogamono drama "Kichijô Ôtaka Soga"; the roles of Soga Gorô Tokimune and Soga Jûrô Sukenari were played by Ichikawa Danzô I and Katsuyama Matagorô.

1st lunar month of 1722: Hanzaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1722: Hanzaburô became tachiyaku and played at the Moritaza the role of Saitô Sanemori in the kaomise drama "Yoshitomo Fukujukai".

1st lunar month of 1723: Hanzaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent). He played in the same theater the role of Kobayashi no Asahina in the new year sogamono drama "Suiryô Soga".

11th lunar month of 1723: Hanzaburô played at the Moritaza the role of I no Hayata in the kaomise drama "Yorimasa Kaikeizan".

11th lunar month of 1724: Hanzaburô played at the Ichimuraza the role of Hata no Minbu Saemon in the kaomise drama "Bankoku Taiheiki", which welcomed in Edo the Kamigata actor Matsushima Hyôtarô.

11th lunar month of 1726: Hanzaburô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Abe no Munetô in the kaomise drama "Kaomise Jûnidan".

1st lunar month of 1727: Hanzaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô-(hanshiro)kichi (superior - superior - (half-white) excellent) [visual].

3rd lunar month of 1728: Hanzaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1729: last kaomise for Hanzaburô, who played the role of Noto-no-Kami in the drama "Yahagi no Chôja Kogane no Ishizue", which was staged at the Moritaza.

1730: Hanzaburô appeared on stage for the last time, in Edo at the Moritaza; he retired and became a backstage manager. No record afterwards.

Comments:

Tomizawa Hanzaburô I was born in Kamigata but quickly settled in Edo, where he was active from 1684 to 1730. He was mainly a tachiyaku actor but often became jitsuaku or katakiyaku. His forte were budôgoto or jitsugoto roles.

[1] The 25th day of the 10th lunar month of the 3rd year of the Shôtoku era was the 12th of December 1713 in the western calendar.

Tomizawa Hanzaburô I (1st from left), Miyakawa Hachirôzaemon (2nd from left), Sengoku Hikosuke I (center), Tamazawa Rin'ya (2nd from right) and Katsuyama Matagorô (1st from right) playing the roles of Sano no Gentôta, Wakasa no Zenji, Sano Genzaemon Tsuneyo, Azumaya and Yukienojô in the kaomise drama "Hachinoki Hônen Mitsugimono", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1717 in Edo at the Nakamuraza

Actors Tomizawa Hanzaburô and Bandô Matakurô II as Warriors
(Okumura Masanobu, MFA Boston)