Stage name:

Sakata Hangorô I

Guild: Shôgatsuya

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Poetry name: Sankyô

Existence: 1683 ~ 23rd day of the 4th lunar month of 1735 ^[1]

Connection:

Master: Sakata Tôjûrô II

Disciples: Sakata Hangorô II, Sakata Sajûrô I, Sakata Ichitarô (?) ^[2], Sakata Raizô

Career:

1683 ~ 1712: born in Kamigata. He started his career as a disciple of Sakata Tôjûrô II, who gave him the name of Sakata Hangorô I. He mainly performed in countryside village theaters.

1st lunar month of 1713: Hangorô settled in Edo and performed as a tachiyaku at the Nakamuraza in the new year sogamono drama "Ôkazari Kanô Soga".

11th lunar month of 1714: Hangorô became katakiyaku and played at the Nakamuraza the role of Tori-no-Umi Yagorô in the kaomise drama "Banmin Daifukuchô".

11th lunar month of 1717: Hangorô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Sadamasa in the kaomise drama "Hachinoki Hônen Mitsugimono".

1st lunar month of 1718: Hangorô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, was jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

1st lunar month of 1719: Hangorô achieved a great success at the Nakamuraza by playing the role of Kobayashi no Asahina in the new year sogamono drama "Kaibyaku Sakayaki Soga".

11th lunar month of 1719: Hangorô became tachiyaku and played at the Moritaza the role of Ôtô-no-Miya in the kaomise drama "Banmin Taiheiki".

2nd lunar month of 1720: Hangorô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1722: Hangorô played at the Moritaza the role of Kamada Masakiyo Hyôe in the kaomise drama "Yoshitomo Fukujukai".

1st lunar month of 1723: Hangorô played in the same theater the role of Soga Gorô Tokimune in the new year sogamono drama "Suiryô Soga".

11th lunar month of 1723: Hangorô played at the Ichimuraza the role of Iga Jutarô in the kaomise drama "Hinagata Shuten Dôji", which celebrated the arrival in Edo of the Kamigata actor Ogino Izaburô I.

11th lunar month of 1724: Hangorô became jitsuaku and played at the Nakamuraza the roles of the actor Hangorô, a man disguised as Akamatsu Mushanosuke and Higashiyama Onnanosuke in the kaomise drama "Taiheiki Okuni Kabuki".

1st lunar month of 1725: Hangorô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, was jô-jô-(hanshiro)kichi (superior - superior - (half-white) excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1725 ~ Fall 1727: Hangorô performed in Edo as a tachiyaku.

11th lunar month of 1727: Hangorô became jitsuaku again and played at the Moritaza the role of Nagasaki Kageyu Saemon in the kaomise drama "Hônen Taiheiki".

1st lunar month of 1730: Hangorô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, fell to jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1730: Hangorô played at the Moritaza the role of the rônin Sukejûrô, in reality Abe no Sadatô, in the kaomise drama "Kankatsu Michinoku no Miyako".

1st lunar month of 1731: Hangorô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, was back to jô-jô-(hanshiro)kichi (superior - superior - (half-white) excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1731: Hangorô played at the Ichimuraza the role of Nikki Danjô Saemon in the kaomise drama "Higashiyama Dono Eiga Butai"; his stage partners were Ôtani Hiroji I, Bandô Hikosaburô I, Yamamoto Hikogorô, Ichimura Takenojô IV, Sodesaki Iseno I, Sanjô Kantarô II, Segawa Kikujirô I, Hayakawa Shinkatsu and Ichikawa Sôzaburô I.

11th lunar month of 1732: Hangorô performed at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Tsuwamono Kongen Hiru-ga-Kojima".

1st lunar month of 1733: Hangorô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, fell to jô-jô-hankichi (superior - superior - half excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1733: Hangorô performed at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Shôhon Taiheiki".

11th lunar month of 1734: Hangorô played at the Ichimuraza the role of Kiyohara no Iehira in the kaomise drama "Michinoku Yunzei Genji".

23rd day of the 4th lunar month of 1735 ^[1]: Hangorô died at the Ichimuraza; a chronicler wrote that "from the stage of the Ichimuraza, he enters the backstage of heaven".

Comments:

Sakata Hangorô I was a good tachiyaku and jitsuaku actor, who was able to perform in the aragoto style. His most notable role was Kobayashi no Asahina in the new year sogamono. His popularity started to decline in the 1730s.

[1] The 23rd day of the 4th lunar month of the 20th year of the Kyôhô era was the 13th of June 1735 in the western calendar.

[2] Sakata Ichitarô was said to be either the adopted son of Sakata Tôjûrô II or a disciple of Sakata Hangorô I. Or maybe both ...

The actors Sakata Hangorô I (top) and Ichimura Takenojô IV in a print made by Okumura Toshinobu

Prints & Illustrations

Print made by Okumura Toshinobu

The Sakata Hangorô line of actors