Stage names:

Sawamura Genjirô	|
Ichimura Katsura
Murakami Hatsujûrô

Poetry name: Genbo

Existence: ??? ~ 25th day of the 4th lunar month of 1753 ^[1]

Connection:

Masters: Sawamura Sôjûrô I, Ichimura Tamagashiwa I, Murakami Zenzaemon

Career:

1st lunar month of 1707: he started his career in Kyôto as a wakaonnagata.

Fall 1716: he became a disciple of the actor Ichimura Tamagashiwa I, who gave him the name of Ichimura Katsura.

11th lunar month of 1716: Katsura performed in Kyôto at the Miyako Mandayû's theater in the kaomise drama "Eboshidakara Mangoku no Kaname".

Fall 1721: Katsura went to Edo.

11th lunar month of 1721: Katsura performed at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Kichirei Imagawajô".

Fall 1726: he became disciple of Sawamura Sôjûrô I.

11th lunar month of 1726: he became kashagata and took the name of Sawamura Genjirô at the Nakamuraza, performing in the kaomise drama "Kaomise Jûnidan".

1st lunar month of 1737: Genjirô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, kashagata section, was jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1743: Genjirô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Hanazono in the kaomise drama "Funayosooi Mitsugi Taiheiki", which celebrated the shûmei of Ôtani Oniji I.

1st lunar month of 1744: Genjirô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, kashagata section, was jô-jô-(hanshiro)kichi (superior - superior - (half-white) excellent) [visual].

5th lunar month of 1747: the play "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami" was produced at the Nakamuraza for the first time; Genjirô played the role of Kakuju [casting].

11th lunar month of 1747: Genjirô performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Izu Gunzei Sumô no Nishiki".

1st lunar month of 1748: Genjirô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, kashagata section, was jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1748: Genjirô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Minase in the kaomise drama "Onna Moji Heike Monogatari", which welcomed in Edo the Kamigata actor Nakamura Kumetarô I.

6th lunar month of 1749: the play "Kanadehon Chûshingura" was produced at the Nakamuraza for the first time; Genjirô played the role of Yoichibê's wife Osawa [casting].

11th lunar month of 1749: Genjirô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Enju in the kaomise drama "Onnô Taiheiki", which celebrated the shûmei of Sakata Hangorô II and Ichikawa Yaozô I.

2nd lunar month of 1751: Genjirô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Hangaku in the new year drama "Izu Kosode Shôbai Kagami".

11th lunar month of 1751: Genjirô played at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Honryô Hachinoki-zome", which welcomed in Edo the Kamigata actors Fujikawa Heikurô and Sanogawa Hanazuma II.

4th lunar month of 1752: Genjirô played in the same theater the role of Ubara no Hayashi in the drama "Ichi-no-Tani Futaba Gunki".

11th lunar month of 1752: Genjirô performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Akazawayama Sumô Nikki".

1st lunar month of 1753: Genjirô appeared on stage for the last time, in Edo at the Nakamuraza, where he played the role of Shôji Saemon's wife Okô in the new year drama "Otokodate Hatsugai Soga".

25th day of the 4th lunar month of 1753 ^[1]: Genjirô died in Edo.

Comments:

Sawamura Genjirô was the last great kashagata in Edo, where he made a successful career from the beginning of the 1720s to the beginning of the 1750s. He had a powerful voice, suitable for the roles of evil women. He was more at ease in sewamono than in jidaimono.

[1] The 25th day of the 4th lunar month of the 3rd year of the Hôreki era was the 27th of May 1753 in the western calendar.

The kashagata section of the Edo 1753 hyôbanki (Sawamura Genjirô was on the right side)