Stage names:

Sakurayama Shôzaemon I
Sakurayama Shôshichi
Sakurayama Rinnosuke I
Togawa Shôdayû

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Poetry name: Ôzan

Existence: 1664 ~ 1714 (?)

Connection:

Younger brother: Sakurayama Shirosaburô I

Disciples: Sakurayama Shônosuke, Sakurayama Shôdayû

Career:

1664 ~ 1686: born in Sakai; he works as a catamite in the Dôtonbori theater district of Ôsaka; his first stage name is Togawa Shôdayû.

11th lunar month of 1686: he takes the name of Sakurayama Rinnosuke I and performs as a wakashugata in Ôsaka at Araki Yojibê I's theater. His yearly salary is 40 ryô; his stage partners are Yamashita Hanzaemon I, Iwai Hanshirô I, Yamamura Kanzaburô, Sodeoka Masanosuke II, Sakata Tôkurô, Takenaka Hanzaburô, Matsushima Han'ya II, Kozakura Kodayû, Takigawa Kiyosaburô, Yoshikawa Genzaburô, Mihara Jûdayû I, Wakabayashi Shiroemon and Sadoshima Denpachi.

Fall 1694: Rinnosuke goes to Edo.

11th lunar month of 1694: Rinnosuke performs at the Ichimuraza.

1st lunar month of 1695: Rinnosuke's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakashugata section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual]. He shares the same rank with Onoe Yatarô.

11th lunar month of 1695: Rinnosuke plays at the Ichimuraza the role of Narinokawa Gonzaburô in the kaomise drama "Shiki Gosho Zakura", which celebrates the arrival in Edo of the actor Mizuki Tatsunosuke I.

Fall 1696: Rinnosuke goes back to Kyôto.

11th lunar month of 1696: he becomes tachiyaku and takes the name of Sakurayama Shôshichi, performing in Kyôto at Miyako Mandayû's theater in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's kaomise drama "Tôhôsaku", which is produced by Sakata Tôjûrô I.

Summer 1697: Sakurayama Shôshichi takes the name of Sakurayama Shôzaemon I in Kyôto.

Summer 1698: Shôzaemon goes to Ôsaka.

3rd lunar month of 1699: Shôzaemon's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô (superior) [visual].

1st lunar month of 1701: Shôzaemon plays in the drama "Kashû Dômyôji Kaichô", which is produced in Ôsaka by Iwai Hanshirô II.

3rd lunar month of 1701: Shôzaemon's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual]. He shares the same rank with Kataoka Nizaemon I, Shibazaki Rinzaemon I, Osagawa Jûemon, Takioka Hikoemon and Murayama Heijûrô I.

Fall 1706: Shôzaemon goes to Edo.

11th lunar month of 1706: Shôzaemon plays at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Mano no Chôja Kogane no Torii".

3rd lunar month of 1707: Shôzaemon's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-(shiro)jô (superior - (white) superior).

Fall 1707: Shôzaemon goes to Kyôto to perform at Miyako Mandayû's theater.

1st lunar month of 1708: Shôzaemon's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-(shiro)jô (superior - (white) superior).

Fall 1708: Shôzaemon goes back to Ôsaka.

11th lunar month of 1708: Shôzaemon plays the role of Ômura Jûnai in Ôsaka in the kaomise drama "Tate Eboshi Daijin Bashira", which is produced by Arashi Sanjûrô I.

3rd lunar month of 1709: Shôzaemon's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-(shiro)jô (superior - (white) superior).

11th lunar month of 1709: Shôzaemon plays in Ôsaka in the kaomise drama "Maiôgi Masaki no Kazura", which is produced by Ogino Yaegiri I.

3rd lunar month of 1710: Shôzaemon's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, falls to jô (superior).

11th lunar month of 1710: Shôzaemon plays in Ôsaka in the kaomise drama "Shusse Yakushi Jûnishin", which is produced by Arashi Sanjûrô I.

11th lunar month of 1711: Shôzaemon plays in Ôsaka in the kaomise drama "Tanba Tarô Kamado Shôgun", which is produced by Arashi Sanjûrô I.

3rd lunar month of 1712: Shôzaemon's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is back to jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

1st lunar month of 1713: Shôzaemon goes back to Kyôto; he plays at Kameya Kumenojô's theater in the kaomise drama "Fukubiki Miuma no Ôkamado".

3rd lunar month of 1713: Shôzaemon is in the Kyôto hyôbanki the kanjiku for tachiyaku actors (unknown ranking).

Fall 1713: Shôzaemon, who was on sick leave in Kyôto for a while, goes back to Ôsaka.

11th lunar month of 1713: Shôzaemon performs in Ôsaka in the kaomise drama "Saiwai Musume Takara no Yome Banzei Muko", which is produced at Ôsaka Tazaemon's theater by Shinozuka Shômatsu I; he appears only in the kôjô and this is his last-recorded stage performance. We don't know what happens to him afterwards for he disappears from the records. He most likely dies in 1714.

Comments:

Sakurayama Shôzaemon I was the founder of the Sakurayama clan. He was an outstanding wakashugata and a good tachiyaku. He was short-sized but had a great kôseki. His fields of excellence were jitsugoto, nuregoto and budôgoto.

"Sakurayama Shôzaemon learned by heart over three thousand old poems because, he said, if you knew many old poems, it was very useful when you were composing words. For this reason he was very skillful at writing speeches and others actors used his services to a considerable extent." (from Tamiya Shirogorô sequel to Kaneko Ikkô's "Dust in the Ears", translated by Charles J. Dunn and Torigoe Bunzô in "The Actors' Analects")

Sakurayama Shôzaemon I playing the role of Oriemon in the kaomise drama "Tanba Tarô Kamado Shôgun", which was produced by Arashi Sanjûrô I in the 11th lunar month of 1711 in Ôsaka at Shioya Kuroemon's theater

Prints & Illustrations

The Sakurayama Shôzaemon line of actors