Stage names:

Imamura Motojûrô
Nakamura Motojûrô
Imamura Shichisaburô I
Takahashi Motojirô
Sakata Hanzaburô

Poetry name: Riyû

Existence: ???

Connection:

Relative: Nakamura Shichisaburô I

Career:

Before 1702: this relative of the stage giant Nakamura Shichisaburô I started his career in the Sakata clan. His first stage name was Sakata Hanzaburô (relationship to Sakata Hangorô I unknown).

11th lunar month of 1702: he took the name of Takahashi Motojirô to perform as a wakashugata in Edo at the Nakamuraza.

11th lunar month of 1703: he became wakaonnagata.

1st lunar month of 1708: Motojirô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô (superior) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1709: Motojirô became tachiyaku; he played at the Moritaza the role of Minamoto no Yorinaga in the kaomise drama "Tametomo Furiwakegami", which welcomed in Edo the Ôsaka actors Hisamatsu Tasanta and Iwai Tamanoe.

Winter 1711: he took the name of Imamura Shichisaburô I.

Fall 1711: Shichisaburô went to Ôsaka.

11th lunar month of 1711: Shichisaburô performed in Ôsaka in the kaomise drama "Futabashira Aioi Chôja", which was coproduced by Ogino Yaegiri I and Miyazaki Denkichi.

Fall 1716: Shichisaburô went to Edo.

11th lunar month of 1716: Imamura Shichisaburô I took the name of Nakamura Motojûrô at the Nakamuraza, performing in the kaomise drama "Mitsudomoe Katoku Biraki", which also celebrated the shûmei of Arashi Kiyosaburô II.

11th lunar month of 1717: Nakamura Motojûrô took the name of Imamura Motojûrô at the Moritaza, playing the role of Nitta Yoshisada in the kaomise program "Hônô Taiheiki"; his stage partners were Ichikawa Danjûrô II, Ôtani Hiroemon I, Ogawa Zengorô I, Asao Jûjirô I, Hayakawa Dengorô and Ichikawa Monnosuke I.

1st lunar month of 1719: Motojûrô appeared on stage for the last time, playing at the Moritaza the role of Sasaki Takatsuna in the new year drama "Keisei Murasaki Tazuna".

Comments:

Imamura Motojûrô, who was active from the beginning of the 1700s to the end of the 1710s, was a tachiyaku actor and the founder of the Imamura clan. His forte was yatsushigoto and nuregoto. There were some unanswered questions regarding this actor: for the Ritsumeikan University Actors Database, he did not take the names of Nakamura Motojûrô or Imamura Motojûrô and he died holding the name of Imamura Shichisaburô I the 23rd of the 11th lunar month of 1714. We've decided to trust the "Kabuki Jinmei Jiten" for this actor.

Imamura Motojûrô playing the role of Nitta Yoshisada in the kaomise program "Hônô Taiheiki", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1717 at the Moritaza

Prints & Illustrations

The Imamura Shichisaburô line of actors