KIRINOYA GONJÛRÔ I

Stage names:

Kirinoya Gonjûrô I In Japanese
Harada Giemon In Japanese

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Existence: ??? ~ 13th day of the 8th lunar month of 1731 [1]

Connection:

Son: Kirinoya Tôkurô (Kirinoya Gonjûrô II)

Disciples: Kirinoya Shinshichi, Kirinoya Chiyotake

Career:

Before 1711: born in Kyôto. His father is a flower-arrangement teacher. He becomes actor and joins travelling troupes, performing under the name of Harada Giemon.

11th lunar month of 1711: he becomes tachiyaku in ôshibai, takes the name of Kirinoya Gonjûrô I and plays in Ôsaka the role of Yamada Kunigorô in the kaomise drama "Futabashira Aioi Chôja", which is coproduced by Ogino Yaegiri I and Miyazaki Denkichi.

11th lunar month of 1712: Gonjûrô becomes jitsuaku and plays in Ôsaka the role of Imagawa Sadaaki in the kaomise drama "Onna Imagawa Seishi no Jôjô", which is produced by Shinozuka Shômatsu I.

1st lunar month of 1714: Gonjûrô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, is jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1714: Gonjûrô plays in Ôsaka the role of the karô Sazareishi Manzô in the kaomise drama "Daikoku Shinmai Dawara", which is produced by Anegawa Shinshirô I.

11th lunar month of 1715: Gonjûrô plays the role of Amanogawa Wadaemon in the kaomise drama "Seiwa Genji Kaichû Fude", which is produced in Ôsaka by Arashi Sanjûrô I.

1st lunar month of 1716: Gonjûrô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, is jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1716: Gonjûrô plays in Ôsaka the role of Rôikkan in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Kokusen'ya Gassen", which is produced by the zamoto Arashi Gosaburô for the nadai Ôsaka Kuzaemon at the Higashi no Shibai. This is the first time this play is staged in Ôsaka. Shirosaburô's stage partners are Sakurayama Shirosaburô I (Watônai), Sanogawa Mangiku (Kinshôjo), Takenaka Tôzaburô (Kanki) and Kirinami Takie (Watônai's mother).

1st lunar month of 1717: Gonjûrô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1717: Gonjûrô plays in Ôsaka at the Higashi no Shibai the role of Nagaoka Wadaemon in the kaomise drama "Meryû Oryû Kogane no Uroko", which is produced by Arashi San'emon III.

1st lunar month of 1718: Gonjûrô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, falls to jô-jô-(hanshiro)kichi (superior - superior - almost excellent).

11th lunar month of 1718: Gonjûrô plays in Ôsaka at the Higashi no Shibai the role of Nagaoka Wadaemon in the kaomise drama "Kogane no Seigaiha", which is produced by Arashi San'emon III.

1st lunar month of 1719: Gonjûrô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, is back to jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent).

3rd lunar month of 1719: first Kabuki adaptation of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's 1708 puppet theater drama "Keisei Hangonkô" by Kyôya Yagoshirô, which was produced by Arashi San'emon III in Ôsaka at the Higashi no Shibai; Gonjûrô plays the role of Maizuruya Denzô [casting].

11th lunar month of 1720: Gonjûrô becomes zamoto for the first time in his career, producing at the Kado no Shibai the kaomise drama "Hana Yakata Chibikizuru", in which he plays the role of the karô Yamaki Hideemon [illustration].

Fall 1722: Gonjûrô goes to Kyôto.

11th lunar month of 1722: Gonjûrô becomes tachiyaku and plays in Kyôto at Hoteiya Umenojô's theater the role of Sakurai Wadaemon in Yoshida Rôfu's kaomise drama "Aioi Ôshimadai", which is produced by Ogino Yaegiri I.

1st lunar month of 1723: Gonjûrô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual]. He shares this rank with Anegawa Shinshirô I.

7th lunar month of 1723: first Kabuki adaptation in Kyôto of the puppet theater drama "Ôtô-no-Miya Asahi no Yoroi"; Gonjûrô plays the role of Saitô Tarôzaemon Toshiyuki [more details].

Fall 1723: Gonjûrô goes back to Ôsaka.

11th lunar month of 1723: Gonjûrô plays at the Naka no Shibai the role of Watanabe Terutsuna in the kaomise drama "Chûshin Futaba no Matsu", which is produced by Matsushima Hyôtarô.

1st lunar month of 1724: Gonjûrô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual]. He shares this rank with Otowa Jirosaburô I, Sakakiyama Koshirô I, Ôtani Hiroji I and Arashi San'emon III.

Fall 1725: Gonjûrô goes to Kyôto.

11th lunar month of 1725: Gonjûrô plays the role of the rônin Tokoyo Manzô in the kaomise drama "Ôkamado Hatsumen Bako", which is produced by Sanogawa Mangiku for the nadai Hayagumo Chôdayû.

1st lunar month of 1726: Gonjûrô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual]. He shares this rank with Anegawa Shinshirô I, Mihogi Gizaemon I, Nakamura Shingorô I, Ôtani Hiroji I and Bandô Hikosaburô I.

Fall 1726: Gonjûrô goes back to Ôsaka.

11th lunar month of 1726: Gonjûrô plays at the Naka no Shibai in the kaomise drama "Hakoiri Daikoku Gane", which is produced by Kaneko Kichizaemon.

11th lunar month of 1727: Gonjûrô plays at the Kado no Shibai the role of Nagoya Sanzaemon in the kaomise drama "Onna Kabuki Chiyo no Hajime"; the role of Fuwa Banzaemon is played by Arashi Kanshirô I.

11th lunar month of 1729: Gonjûrô plays at the Kado no Shibai the role of the karô Nakatsugawa Hideemon in the kaomise drama "Banzai Kogane Tsukuri", which is produced by Arashi Sanjûrô II; his stage partners are Nakayama Shinkurô I, Yoshizawa Ayame II, Sakurayama Shirosaburô I, Yamashita Kinsaku I, Nakamura Sôjûrô and Fujii Hanamatsu.

11th lunar month of 1730: Gonjûrô becomes jitsuaku and plays at the Naka no Shibai in the kaomise drama "Meotogura Wagô no Nakatomi", which is produced by Iwai Hanshirô III; his stage partners are Nakayama Shinkurô I, Anegawa Shinshirô I, Sakurayama Shirosaburô I, Yamashita Kinsaku I, Sanogawa Hanazuma I, Arashi Sanjûrô II, Hanagiri Toyomatsu I and Izumikawa Sennosuke.

1st lunar month of 1731: Gonjûrô appears on stage for the last time, in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai, playing the roles of Harunaga and Sakuma Kyûemon in the new year drama "Takechi Jûbê Miyako Nishiki".

13th day of the 8th lunar month of 1731 [1]: Gonjûrô dies in Ôsaka.

Comments:

Kirinoya Gonjûrô I was an important Kyôto actor, who started his career in travelling troupes and achieved fame for himself from the end of the 1710s to the beginning of the 1730s in Ôsaka and his native city, as a jitsuaku and as a tachiyaku (from the 11th lunar month of 1722 to Fall 1730). he was the founder of the Kirinoya Clan.

"Kirinoya Gonjûrô, who acted chiefly in Ôsaka and Kyôto, was the son of a flower-arrangement teacher. A certain official living in Kyôto belonged to the same school of flower-arrangement as the actor's father, and the two were on friendly terms. When Kirinoya was appearing in Kyôto he had to go to the magistrate's office on some business connected with the theatre, and the official discovered that his friend's son had joined the ranks of the vulgar Kabuki players. He ordered Kirinoya to call at his residence, and when he did so he would not allow him to enter, but commanded him to prostrate himself on the ground before the entrance, and is reported to have said to him:
"Although I have been a friend of your father, your status in society is quite beyond the pale of intercourse. If you cease to be an actor I will allow you to enter my house and will renew our friendship, but not otherwise."
The actor, quite overcome at this prejudiced attitude, replied:
"I thank you for your kindness, but it is impossible for me to give up my profession. Although I have thus lowered myself in the social scale, I am chief among the actors, and there are many of my followers who are dependent upon me for a livelihood. I cannot deprive them of this. Even among us who are despised there is loyalty and fidelity, and I have no other course but to follow my profession. In this case I cannot see you again."
(Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan")

[1] The 13th day of the 8th lunar month of the 16th year of the Kyôhô era was the 13th of September 1731 in the western calendar.

Kirinoya Gonjûrô I (left) and Anegawa Shinshirô I (right) performing in the kaomise drama "Meotogura Wagô no Nakatomi", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1730 at the Naka no Shibai

Prints & Illustrations

The Kirinoya Gonjûrô line of actors

 
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