Stage names:

Matsumoto Kojirô I
Matsumoto Hidejûrô I

Guild: Kôraiya

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Poetry name: Nanshô

Existence: ???

Connection:

Masters: Matsumoto Kôshirô IV, Matsumoto Kôshirô III, Matsumoto Kôshirô II

Career:

Beginning of the 1750s: he became disciple of Matsumoto Kôshirô II and received the name of Matsumoto Hidejûrô I.

11th lunar month of 1759: Hidejûrô makes his debuts on stage in the 11th lunar month at the Moritaza, performing as a tachiyaku in the kaomise drama "Toki Tsukaze Heike Monogatari".

1st lunar month of 1769: Hidejûrô became katakiyaku and plays at the Nakamuraza the role of Nitta no Shirô in the new year drama "Soga Moyô Aigo no Wakamatsu".

11th lunar month of 1773: he became jitsuaku and took the name of Matsumoto Kojirô I at the Ichimuraza, playing the role of Sumida Kurando Yukitsuna in the kaomise drama "Kaeri Kiso Kigoto no Hatsumono", which celebrated the shûmei of Ichikawa Danzô IV.

1st lunar month of 1774: Kojirô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, was jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1777: Kojirô performed at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Chigo Torii Tobiiri Kitsune".

1st lunar month of 1778: Kojirô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, was jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual].

25th day of the 2nd lunar month of 1778 ^[1]: his first master Ichikawa Ebizô III (Matsumoto Kôshirô II) died in Edo.

11th lunar month of 1778: Kojirô performed at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Sakimasuya Ume no Kachidoki".

11th lunar month of 1779: Kojirô performed at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Azuma no Mori Sakae Kusunoki", which celebrated the shûmei of Azuma Tôzô III and Segawa Otome.

11th lunar month of 1780: Kojirô performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Kite Kaeru Nishiki no Wakayaka".

11th lunar month of 1781: Kojirô performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Shitennô Tonoi no Kisewata".

11th lunar month of 1784: Kojirô performed at the Moritaza in the kaomise drama "Sakura-ga-Mine Tennyo no Yomeiri".

11th lunar month of 1786: Kojirô performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Kumoi no Hana Yoshino no Wakamusha", which welcomed in Edo the Kamigata actor Arashi Murajirô and starred Sawamura Sôjûrô III, Ichikawa Yaozô III, Ôtani Hiroji III, Onoe Matsusuke I, Osagawa Tsuneyo II, Sanogawa Ichimatsu III, Nakajima Kanzaemon III and Bandô Matatarô IV.

11th lunar month of 1787: Kojirô performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Yukimizuki Eiga Hana no Hachinoki", which celebrated the shûmei of Ôtani Oniji III.

11th lunar month of 1788: Kojirô performed at the Nakamuraza 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 1789: Kojirô performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Komachi-mura Shibai no Shôgatsu".

11th lunar month of 1791: Kojirô performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Nidai Genji Oshi no Gôkyû".

1st lunar month of 1792: Kojirô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, was jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual]. No record afterwards.

Comments:

Matsumoto Kojirô I was active in Edo from the Hôreki era to the Bunsei era. He was a katakiyaku/jitsuaku supporting actor. He did not achieve stardom (his best ranking was jô-jô-hankichi) but he spent a long career serving with efficiency several generations of Masters of the Kôraiya guild. In Nojima Jusaburô's book "Kabuki Jinmei Jiten", Matsumoto Kojirô I and Matsumoto Kojirô II were fused into one actor named Matsumoto Kojirô, who was active from the beginning of the 1750s to 1826. We've decided to fix it and to record two different actors instead of one.

[1] The 25th day of the 2nd lunar month of the 7th year of the An'ei era was the 23rd of March 1778 in the western calendar.

Matsumoto Kojirô I (left), Sawamura Shirogorô I (center) and Ikushima Daikichi IV (right) performing in the kaomise drama "Sakimasuya Ume no Kachidoki", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1778 at the Ichimuraza

The Matsumoto Hidejûrô line of actors