Pen name:

Chikamatsu Hanji

Real name: Hozumi Shigeaki

Existence: 1725 ~ 4th day of the 2nd lunar month of 1783 ^[1]

Connection:

Master: Takeda Izumo II

Disciples: Chikamatsu Tokuzô, Chikamatsu Kasaku, Chikamatsu Kosuiken

Career:

1725: born in Ôsaka. He was the 2nd son of the Confucian scholar Hozumi Ikan. He took the name family name of Chikamatsu in tribute to Chikamatsu Monzaemon.

10th lunar month of 1751: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza of "En no Gyôja Ômine Zakura", which was written by Takeda Geki ^[2] and Hanji. This was the first drama on which he worked.

11th lunar month of 1751: Hanji worked in Kyôto on the kaomise drama "En no Gyôja Ômine Zakura" (based on the puppet drama premiered one month earlier), which was produced at Hayagumo Chôdayû's theater by the zamoto Nakayama Bunshichi I.

10th lunar month of 1754: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza of the 5-act puppet theater drama "Ono no Tôfû Aoyagi Suzuri", which was written by Takeda Izumo II, Miyoshi Shôraku and Hanji.

2nd lunar month of 1755: first Kabuki adaptation of the 5-act puppet theater drama "Ono no Tôfû Aoyagi Suzuri". It was produced by Sawamura Kunitarô I and staged at the Minamigawa no Shibai [casting].

2nd lunar month of 1757: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza of the puppet theater drama "Hime Komatsu Ne-no-Hi no Asobi", which was written by Yoshida Kanshi I, Hanji, Miyoshi Shôraku, Chikamatsu Keiri and Takeda Koizumo II.

1st lunar month of 1758: first Kabuki adaptation of the puppet theater drama "Hime Komatsu Ne-no-Hi no Asobi", in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai [casting].

2nd lunar month of 1759: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza of Hanji's puppet theater drama "Hidakagawa Iriai Zakura".

11th lunar month of 1759: first Kabuki adaptation of Hanji's puppet theater drama "Hidakagawa Iriai Zakura", in Ôsaka at the Takeda no Shibai.

5th lunar month of 1761: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza of Hanji's puppet theater drama "Yura no Minato Sengen Chôja", which was written by Hanji, Miyoshi Shôraku and Takeda Koizumo II.

4th lunar month of 1763: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza of the tenjiku-tokubemono/kirishitanmono drama "Tenjiku Tokubê Sato no Sugatami".

1st lunar month of 1766: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza of Hanji's 5-act puppet theater drama "Honchô Nijûshikô", which was written by Hanji, Miyoshi Shôraku and Takeda Inaba.

5th lunar month of 1766: first Kabuki adaptation of the 5-act puppet theater drama "Honchô Nijûshikô". The play was staged in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai [casting].

10th lunar month of 1766: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza of Hanji's puppet theater drama "Taiheiki Chûshin Kôshaku".

2nd lunar month of 1767: first Kabuki adaptation of the puppet theater drama "Taiheiki Chûshin Kôshaku", which was originally written by Hanji. The play was staged in Edo at the Ichimuraza [casting].

8th lunar month of 1767: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza of the puppet theater play "Sekitori Senryô Nobori", which was written by Hanji, Miyoshi Shôraku and Takeda Bunkichi.

6th lunar month of 1768: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza of Hanji's puppet theater drama "Keisei Awa no Naruto".

2nd lunar month of 1769: the play "Sekitori Senryô Nobori" was adapted for Kabuki for the first time, in Edo at the Moritaza [casting].

22nd day of the 9th lunar month of 1769 ^[3]: his father Hozumi Ikan died.

12th lunar month of 1769: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza of Hanji's puppet theater drama "Ômi Genji Senjin Yakata".

5th lunar month of 1770: first Kabuki adaptation of Hanji's puppet theater "Ômi Genji Senjin Yakata". The play was staged in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai [casting].

9th lunar month of 1770: premiere at the Kitagawa no Shibai of the drama "Keisei Awa no Naruto", a revision of Hanji's 1768 puppet drama "Keisei Awa no Naruto" [more details].

9th lunar month of 1770: Hanji's 1759 puppet theater drama "Hidakagawa Iriai Zakura" was staged for the first time in Edo, at the Moritaza [casting].

1st lunar month of 1771: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takeda Shinmatsu's theater (ex-Takemotoza) of the 5-act puppet theater drama "Imoseyama Onna Teikin", which was written by Miyoshi Shôraku, Hanji, Matsuda Boku, Eizenbei and Chikamatsu Tônan.

3rd lunar month of 1771: first Kabuki adaptation of Hanji's puppet theater "Imoseyama Onna Teikin". It was staged in Kyôto at the Kitagawa no Shibai [casting].

9th lunar month of 1780: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza of Hanji's puppet theater drama "Shinpan Utazaimon".

4th day of the 2nd lunar month of 1783 ^[1]: Hanji suddenly died in Ôsaka while working on the drama "Igagoe Dôchû Sugoroku".

4th lunar month of 1783: premiere in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza of Hanji's puppet theater drama "Igagoe Dôchû Sugoroku".

9th lunar month of 1783: the play "Igagoe Dôchû Sugoroku" was adapted for Kabuki for the first time, in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai [casting].

5th lunar month of 1785: first Kabuki adaptation of Hanji's puppet theater drama "Shinpan Utazaimon". The play was produced in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai [casting]. Première in ôshibai, in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai, of Hanji's drama "Yura no Minato Sengen Chôja" [casting].

Comments:

Chikamatsu Hanji was an important Ôsaka sakusha, who worked on more than 50 original dramas for the puppet theater. He was the last great puppet theater playwright and his best dramas became classics in Kabuki theater as well.

[1] The 4th day of the 2nd lunar month of the 3rd year of the Tenmei era was the 6th of March 1783 in the western calendar.

[2] Takeda Izumo II.

[3] The 22nd day of the 9th lunar month of the 6th year of the Meiwa era was the 21st of October 1769 in the western calendar.

Chikamatsu Hanji