Pen names:

Tsuuchi Eishi I
Tsuuchi Jihê II

Stage names:

Tsuuchi Michirô
Tsuuchi Jisaburô

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Poetry name: Eishi

Existence: 1679 ~ 20th day of the 1st lunar month of 1760 ^[1]

Connection:

Father: Tsuuchi Jihê I

Adopted son: Tsuyama Yûzô I

Disciples: Tsuuchi Jisuke, Tsuuchi Han'emon, Tsuuchi Jihê III, Tsuuchi Eishi II, Tsuuchi Denjûrô II, Tsuuchi Hanshirô, Tsuuchi Hanjûrô, Tsuuchi Kuheiji II, Tsuuchi Sonoji, Tsuuchi Kanki, Tsuuchi Saburôji, Tsuuchi Seisuke, Tsuuchi Takasuke, Tsuuchi Tarôji, Tsuuchi Teisuke, Tsuuchi Matazaemon

Career:

1679: born in Ôsaka. He was the son of Tsuuchi Jihê I. His first two stage names were Tsuuchi Jisaburô and Tsuuchi Michirô.

1703: he settled in Edo with his father.

1704: he became sakusha and took the name of Tsuuchi Jihê II.

3rd lunar month of 1705: Jihê worked at the Yamamuraza on the drama "Keisei Yoshinagazome".

3rd lunar month of 1710: Jihê worked at the Nakamuraza on the revival of the seigen-sakurahimemono "Isshin Niga Byakudô", which was staged for the first time in the 7th lunar month of 1695 at the Yamamuraza. The roles of Seigen and Princess Sakura were played by Nakajima Kanzaemon I and Tsutsui Kichijûrô I. For the first time, Jihê mixed jidaimono and sewamono elements in the same drama. This was the first jidai-sewamono in Kabuki history.

2nd lunar month of 1716: Jihê worked at the Nakamuraza, along with Tsuuchi Han'emon, on the new year drama "Shikirei Yawaragi Soga"; the roles of Kudô Saemon Suketsune, Soga Gorô Tokimune, the courtesan Kewaizaka no Shôshô (Gorô's lover) and Kobayashi no Asahina were played by Hayakawa Dengorô, Ichikawa Danjûrô II, Nakamura Takesaburô I and Ôtani Hiroji I. The play included a new version of "Sukeroku" with the actors Ichikawa Danjûrô II, Nakamura Takesaburô I and Ôtani Hiroemon I playing the roles of Sukeroku, Agemaki and Ikyû.

11th lunar month of 1720: Jihê worked at the Ichimuraza on the kaomise drama "Kodakara Imagawajô", which celebrated the shûmei of Yamanaka Takejûrô.

1st lunar month of 1738: Jihê worked at the Nakamuraza on the new year sogamono drama "Takara Soga Nyogo no Shimadai".

Fall 1738: Jihê went to Kamigata, along with Bandô Hikosaburô I and his adopted son Tsuuchi Monzaburô I.

11th lunar month of 1738: Jihê worked at the Ônishi no Shibai with the sakusha Nakata Mansuke on the kaomise drama "Kusunoki Yakata Sennen Gitsune", which was produced in Ôsaka by Yoshizawa Ayame II.

6th lunar month of 1740: Jihê went back to Edo and worked at the Ichimuraza on the sogamono "Amida-ga-Ike Imose Kagami".

11th lunar month of 1745: Jihê worked at the Ichimuraza on the kaomise drama "Onna Kusunoki Yosooi Kagami", which celebrated the arrival in Edo of the Kamigata onnagata Yoshizawa Ayame II.

1st lunar month of 1746: Jihê worked in the same theater the role of Soga Jûrô Sukenari on the new year drama "Kikeba Mukashi Soga Monogatari"; the roles of Kudô Saemon Suketsune, Soga Gorô Tokimune and Soga Jûrô Sukenari were played by Bandô Hikosaburô I, Ichimura Kamezô I and Ogino Izaburô I.

11th lunar month of 1748: Jihê worked at the Ichimuraza on the kaomise drama "Hôkasô Yunzei Hachinoki", which celebrated the shûmei of Ôtani Hiroji II.

11th lunar month of 1749: Jihê worked at the Moritaza on the kaomise drama "Bijo Kurabe Kiso no Kakehashi", which celebrated the shûmei of Sawamura Sôjûrô II.

11th lunar month of 1750: Jihê worked at the Nakamuraza on the kaomise drama "Wakaki no Ume Taira no Kiyomori".

2nd lunar month of 1751: Jihê worked in the same theater on the new year drama "Izu Kosode Shôbai Kagami".

11th lunar month of 1751: Jihê worked at the Moritaza on the kaomise drama "Aizuchi Jûnidan", which celebrated the shûmei of Morita Kan'ya VI and his adopted son Tsuyama Yûzô I.

1st lunar month of 1752: Jihê worked in the same theater on the new year sogamono drama "Kotobuki Maizuru Soga"; the roles of Kudô Saemon Suketsune, Soga Gorô Tokimune and Soga Jûrô Sukenari were played by Ichikawa Sôzaburô I, Morita Kan'ya VI and Nakamura Shichisaburô II.

11th lunar month of 1752: Jihê worked at the Ichimuraza on the kaomise drama "Ume Sakura Ninin Semimaru".

1st lunar month of 1753: Jihê worked in the same theater on the new year sogamono drama "Haru Fukami Iroha Soga" ^[3]; the roles of Kudô Saemon Suketsune, Soga Gorô Tokimune and Soga Jûrô Sukenari were played by Matsumoto Kôshirô II, Onoe Kikugorô I and Ichimura Kamezô I.

2nd day of the 9th lunar month of 1753 ^[2]: his adopted son Tsuyama Yûzô I died in Edo.

11th lunar month of 1753: he took the name of Tsuuchi Eishi I and worked at the Moritaza on the kaomise drama "Masakado Kokyô no Nishiki", which celebratesd the shûmei of Suketakaya Takasuke I and Ichikawa Sôzaburô II.

11th lunar month of 1754: Eishi worked at the Moritaza on the kaomise drama "Kiichi Hôgen Shinan-guruma", which welcomed in Edo the actor Matsuyama Sanjûrô.

1st lunar month of 1755: Eishi worked in the same theater on the new year sogamono drama "Sono Sugata Ariake Soga"; the roles of Kudô Saemon Suketsune, Soga Gorô Tokimune and Soga Jûrô Sukenari were played by Suketakaya Takasuke I, Matsuyama Sanjûrô and Ichikawa Masuzô I.

1755: without stopping his sakusha career, he became the disciple of the monk Ryôkai and settled in Kameido in order to learn Zen.

1st lunar month of 1756: Eishi worked ^[4] at the Nakamuraza on the kaomise drama "Masakado Shôzoku no Enoki", which celebrated the arrival of Arashi Tominosuke I in Edo.

11th lunar month of 1757: Eishi worked at the Moritaza on the kaomise drama "Ikioi Wada Gassen".

11th lunar month of 1759: Eishi worked ^[5] at the Moritaza on the kaomise drama "Toki Tsukaze Heike Monogatari".

20th day of the 1st lunar month of 1760 ^[1]: Eishi died in Edo. His posthumous buddhist name was Yûken'in Eishi Nichiyû

Comments:

Tsuuchi Eishi I was an important Edo sakusha who was active for 57 years! He was one of the first professional playwright in Edo. He worked on more than 100 (200?) original dramas ^[6].

"He created the standard Edo "four-act play," and wrote dramas that mixed jidaimono and sewamono." (Samuel Leiter in "New Kabuki Encyclopedia")

"There's a Story about him that he and a certain lead actor were at odds with each other. Jihei's play was rejected by the actor six times as he continued to rewrite it, even changing the plot and background story. The seventh time, he took his original play, and changing only the title, he read it aloud. The actor, who had also run out of patience, accepted it, and this gave Jihei a laugh. Those who were unaware of the true situation believed that they had come together in their thinking and had been reconciled. What admirable character! He should be known as a great man among lead playwrights. At that time, painted on a votive picture plaque offered at Edo's Zôshigayatsu no Kishibojin, were the scales of hell. Tsuuchi Jihei was placed on one side and all the actors of his theatre on the other. Tsuuchi's side was shown to be heavier." (Katherine Saltzman-Li in "Creating Kabuki Plays: Context for Kezairoku")

[1] The 20th day of the 1st lunar month of the 10th year of the Hôreki era was the 7th of March 1760 in the western calendar.

[2] The 2nd day of the 9th lunar month of the 3rd year of the Hôreki era was the 28th of September 1753 in the western calendar.

[3] "Haru Fukami Iroha Soga" mixed two sekai: the world of the Soga brothers and the world of "Chûshingura". It was a commercial failure.

[4] Along with Horikoshi Nisôji I, Nakamura Seinojô, Okuno Sasuke, Tsuuchi Seisuke and Shimazu Goichi.

[5] Along with Tsuuchi Saburôji, Tsuuchi Sonoji and Fujii Katsusaburô.

[6] More than 100 dramas according to Nojima Jusaburô's book "Kabuki Jinmei Jiten". More than 200 dramas in Samuel Leiter in "New Kabuki Encyclopedia". Due to the exceptional longevity of Tsuuchi Eishi I, 200 is very likely to be closer to the real number than 100.

The name of Tsuuchi Eishi I in a 1754 Edo hyôbanki (the zone within the red shape on the left side of the picture)

The Tsuuchi Jihê line of playwrights