Playwright names:

Matsuda Bunkôdô
Matsuda Wakichi

Artistic name: Bunkôdô

Existence: ???

Connection:

Master: Chikamatsu Monzaemon (?) ^[10]

Career:

1713: most likely a disciple of Chikamatsu Monzaemon, he started his career in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza. His first pen name was Matsuda Wakichi ^[11].

2nd lunar month of 1723: premiere of "Ôtô-no-Miya Asahi no Yoroi" ^[8] in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza.

7th lunar month of 1723: "Ôtô-no-Miya Asahi no Yoroi" was adapted for Kabuki and staged for the first time in Kyôto. It was produced by Ogino Yaegiri I at Hoteiya Umenojô's theater [casting].

11th lunar month of 1726: Wakichi worked in Kyôto at Kameya Kumenojô's theater on the kaomise drama "Karanishiki Imose no Shitone", which was produced by Matsushima Hyôtarô.

2nd lunar month of 1730: premiere of "Miura no Ôsuke Kôbai Tazuna" ^[6] in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza. He used for the first time the pen name of Matsuda Bunkôdô.

8th lunar month of 1730 "Miura no Ôsuke Kôbai Tazuna" was adapted for Kabuki and staged for the first time in the at the Kado no Shibai.

11th lunar month of 1730: premiere of "Suma no Miyako Genpei Tsutsuji" ^[9] in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza.

9th lunar month of 1731: premiere of "Kiichi Hôgen Sanryaku no Maki" ^[7] in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza.

12th lunar month of 1731: "Kiichi Hôgen Sanryaku no Maki" was adapted for Kabuki and produced for the first time at the Kado no Shibai. The zamoto was Arashi Kokuseki (unknown casting).

3rd lunar month of 1732: "Kiichi Hôgen Sanryaku no Maki" was produced by Arashi Koroku I in Kyôto with the actors Mihogi Gizaemon I and Ichiyama Sukegorô I playing the roles of Yoshioka Kiichi Hôgen and Ichijô Ôkura Naganari.

3rd/4th lunar months of 1732: Arashi Kokuseki produced the play "Kiichi Hôgen Sanryaku no Maki" one more time in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai [casting].

9th lunar month of 1732: premiere of "Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki" in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza. It was adapted for Kabuki the same month, in Kyôto at Miyako Mandayû's theater [casting].

3rd lunar month of 1733: "Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki" was staged in Ôsaka for the first time, at the Kado no Shibai [casting].

5th lunar month of 1736: premiere of "Katakiuchi Tsuzure no Nishiki" ^[2] in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza. It was based on a very old Kabuki drama, Fukui Yagozaemon's drama "Hinin no Adauchi" ('the Outcast's revenge'), which was staged in 1664 in Ôsaka, starring Araki Yojibê I, Kaneko Rokuemon and Nakagawa Kinnojô.

1st lunar month of 1737: premiere of "Gosho Zakura Horikawa no Youchi" ^[1] in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza.

11th lunar month of 1737: "Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki" was staged in Edo for the first time, at the Kawarasakiza under the title "Urûzuki Ninin Kagekiyo" [casting].

2nd lunar month of 1738: premiere in Kyôto of Bunkôdô's san-no-kawari drama "Yukihira Isonare Matsu" [more details].

4th lunar month of 1739: premiere of "Hirakana Seisuiki" ^[3] in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza.

5th lunar month of 1739: "Hirakana Seisuiki" was adapted for Kabuki and staged for the first time in Kyôto at the Minamigawa no Shibai, produced by Mizuki Tatsunosuke II for the nadai Hoteiya Umenojô [casting].

9th lunar month of 1740: "Hirakana Seisuiki" was staged for the first time in Ôsaka ^[4], produced at the Kado no Shibai by Nakamura Jûzô I and the only know actor in the casting was Nakamura Tomijûrô I in the role of Chidori.

5th lunar month of 1741: premiere of "Shin Usuyuki Monogatari" ^[5] in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza.

8th lunar month of 1741: "Shin Usuyuki Monogatari" was adapted for Kabuki and staged for the first time in Kyôto at Hayagumo Chôdayû's theater, produced by Sakakiyama Jûtarô I [casting].

Comments:

Matsuda Bunkôdô was a Kamigata sakusha, who was active for 30 years, mainly in the puppet theater (Bunraku) and occasionally in Kabuki. He was the most active after 1730. Many of his works were collaborations with Hasegawa Senshi. The most well-known among those works are "Kiichi Hôgen Sanryaku no Maki" and "Gosho Zakura Horikawa no Youchi", which are stories about Minamoto no Yoshitsune and still often played in Kabuki theaters.

[1] Written with Miyoshi Shôraku. "Gosho Zakura Horikawa no Youchi" was adapted for Kabuki many years later and staged for the first time in the 4th lunar month of 1762 in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai [casting]. "Benkei Jôshi" and "Tôyata Monogatari" are still in the Kabuki repertoire.

[2] Written with Miyoshi Shôraku. "Katakiuchi Tsuzure no Nishiki" was adapted for Kabuki more than 28 years after its creation. It was premiered in Ôsaka in the 9th lunar month of 1764 at the Kado no Shibai, in a version which was revised by Namiki Jûsuke, Ichiyama Bokuhei and Namiki Ôsuke and was entitled "Oriawase Tsuzure no Nishiki" [casting]. "Daianji Zutsumi" is still in the Kabuki repertoire.

[3] Written with Miyoshi Shôraku, Takeda Izumo I, Takeda Koizumo I and Asada Kakei. "Genta Kandô", "Ôtsu Yadoya", "Sasabiki", "Sakaro" and "Kanzaki Ageya" are still in the Kabuki repertoire.

[4] "Hirakana Seisuiki" was staged for the first time in Edo in the 7th lunar month of 1753, at the Ichimuraza [casting].

[5] Written with Miyoshi Shôraku, Takeda Koizumo I and Ogawa Hanbei.

[6] Written with Hasegawa Senshi. "Ishikiri Kajiwara" is still in the Kabuki repertoire.

[7] Written with Hasegawa Senshi. "Kikubatake" and "Ichijô Ôkura Monogatari" are still in the Kabuki repertoire.

[8] Written with Takeda Izumo I. "Migawari Ondo" is still in the Kabuki repertoire.

[9] Written with Hasegawa Senshi. "Ôgiya Kumagai" is still in the Kabuki repertoire.

[10] Believed to have been a disciple of Chikamatsu Monzaemon.

[11] Matsuda Wakichi was also his real name.