Stage names:

Fujikawa Hanzaburô III
Yamamoto Shichizô
Yamamoto Shichisaburô

Other name:

Kataoka Nizaemon V

Line number: SANDAIME (III)

Poetry name: Sakoku

Existence: ???

Connection:

Adoptive father: Kataoka Nizaemon IV

Master: Yamamoto Kyôshirô I

Career:

Before 1751: this adopted son of Kataoka Nizaemon IV started his career as a disciple of Yamamoto Kyôshirô I, who gave him the name of Yamamoto Shichisaburô. He served his apprenticeship in kodomo shibai, performing in miyaji shibai around Kyôto.

11th lunar month of 1751: Yamamoto Shichisaburô took the name of Yamamoto Shichizô in Kyôto, performing in the kaomise drama "Kaeribana Shinohara Gunki".

2nd lunar month of 1753: Shichizô became katakiyaku.

11th lunar month of 1754: Shichizô played at Hoteiya Umenojô's theater in Kyôto the role of Date no Jirô in the kaomise drama "Fûkigusa Aioi Genji", which was produced by Somematsu Matsujirô. This drama was in fact the first Kabuki adaptation of the puppet drama "Yoshitsune Koshigoejô" [more details].

11th lunar month of 1758: Yamamoto Shichizô took the name of Fujikawa Hanzaburô III at the Naka no Shibai, performing in the kaomise drama "Shitennô Chikara Kurabe"; his stage partners were Ichikawa Danzô III, Yamamoto Kyôshirô I, Yamashita Matatarô I, Ichinokawa Hikoshirô II, Yoshizawa Sakinosuke II, Nakamura Kumetarô I and the zamoto Arashi Kichisaburô I.

1st lunar month of 1759: Hanzaburô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, was jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual]. He shared the same rank with Bandô Iwagorô.

Fall 1760: Hanzaburô went to Kyôto.

11th lunar month of 1760: Hanzaburô played at the Minamigawa no Shibai the role of Inoguma Monbê in the kaomise drama "Ôshimadai Kitsune no Mukoiri".

1st lunar month of 1761: Hanzaburô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, was jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual]. He shared the same rank with Matsumoto Tomojûrô II.

11th lunar month of 1762: Hanzaburô performed at the Minamigawa no Shibai in the kaomise drama "Tenka Taihei Kogane no Kurairi", which was produced by Onoe Montarô and Sawamura Kunitarô I.

Spring 1763: Hanzaburô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, was one black stroke above jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].

3rd lunar month of 1763: Hanzaburô played in the same theater the roles of Ono no Sadakurô and Yakushiji Jirozaemon in the drama "Kanadehon Chûshingura".

1st lunar month of 1764: Hanzaburô played at the Minamigawa no Shibai the roles of Princess Okitsu and Azai Bansaku in Namiki Shôzô I's ni-no-kawari drama "Keisei Hana no Shiroyama", which was produced by Arashi Matsunojô III.

20th day of the 10th lunar month of 1764 ^[1]: his master Yamamoto Kyôshirô I died.

11th lunar month of 1766: Hanzaburô became jitsuaku and played in Kyôto at the Kitagawa no Shibai the role of Yamana Katôji in Tenmaya Kyûshichi's kaomise drama "Umayadogimi Shitennôji Kuyô", which celebrated the shûmei of the actors Sakakiyama Sagisuke, Sakakiyama Koshirô III and Sakakiyama Shirotarô III.

11th lunar month of 1770: Hanzaburô played the role of the evil priest Dainichibô in the kaomise drama "Sakigake Yashima no Kachidoki", which was produced by Onoe Kumesuke for the nadai Ebisuya Kichirôbê and Kameya Kumenojô.

1st lunar month of 1771: Hanzaburô appeared on stage for the last time, in Kyôto, where he played the roles of the yakko Ichisuke and the chief priest of the Saibôji Temple in the new year drama "Keisei Ôe no Kishi". No record afterwards ^[2].

Comments:

Fujikawa Hanzaburô III was a popular Kamigata katakiyaku actor, who made all his career in Kyôto and Ôsaka from the beginning of the 1750s to the beginning of the 1770s. He was more at ease in sewamono than in jidaimono and had the knack of adding some humor in the villain roles he performed.

[1] The 20th day of the 10th lunar month of the 1st year of the Meiwa era was the 13th of November 1764 in the western calendar.

[2] Fujikawa Hanzaburô III most likely died in Kyôto in 1771.

Fujikawa Hanzaburô III (left) and Asao Motogorô II (right) playing the roles of Yamana Katôji and Katôji's wife in Tenmaya Kyûshichi's kaomise drama "Umayadogimi Shitennôji Kuyô", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1766 at the Kitagawa no Shibai

Prints & Illustrations

The Fujikawa Hanzaburô line of actors

The Kataoka Nizaemon line of actors