Stage name:

Murayama Heijûrô I

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Existence: ??? ~ 8th lunar month of 1707

Connection:

Master: Murayama Heiemon II

Sons: Murayama Heijûrô II, Murayama Heijûrô III, Murayama Heijûrô IV

Disciple: Murayama Jûheiji I

Career:

1672: his name appeared for the first time in the Kabuki records, as a disciple of Murayama Heiemon II, who performed with his master in Kyôto.

3rd lunar month of 1685: Heijûrô went to Edo and performed at the Ichimuraza.

1688: Heijûrô went back to Ôsaka.

11th lunar month of 1689: Heijûrô performed in Ôsaka in the drama "Fujiwara no Haruhime", which was produced by Iwai Hanshirô I; his stage partners were Nakagawa Kinnojô and Uemura Kichiya II.

1st lunar month of 1690: Heijûrô performed in Ôsaka in the drama "Sakaba no Ôji", which was produced by Iwai Hanshirô I.

3rd lunar month of 1693: Heijûrô performed in Ôsaka in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Butsumo Mayasan Kaichô", which was produced by Iwai Hanshirô I and starred the actors Sugiyama Kanzaemon I and Iwai Sagenta I; this production was a success and a long run (150 days). The same play was simultaneously staged in Kyôto at Miyako Mandayû's theater.

1694: Heijûrô became zamoto and produced in Ôsaka the drama "Wakoku Fûryû Kyôdai Kagami", in which he played the role of Soga Gorô Tokimune; his stage partners were Takeshima Kôzaemon I (Soga Jûrô Sukenari), Nishikawa Okanosuke (Jûrô's lover Ôiso no Tora) and Hayama Heiemon (the Soga brothers' mother).

11th lunar month of 1695: Heijûrô went to Edo and performed at the Moritaza.

26th day of the 12th lunar month of 1695 ^[1]: a fire broke out in the district of Sukiyabashi, which burns the Moritaza to the ground.

1st lunar month of 1696: Heijûrô played at the Yamamuraza the role of Fuwa Banzaemon in the drama "Fuwa Nagoya Uikamuri"; the role of Nagoya Sanza, Banzaemon's rival in love, was played by Nakamura Shichisaburô I.

Winter 1698/1699: Heijûrô went back to Ôsaka.

1st lunar month of 1699: Heijûrô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki was jô (superior) [visual]. He performed in Ôsaka in Tsuuchi Jihê I's drama "Taisanji Yakushi no Kaichô", which was produced by Iwai Hanshirô I.

4th lunar month of 1699: Heijûrô played in the same theater the role of Taira no Masakado in the drama "Ryûjo Tsuya Oshiroi", which was produced by Iwai Hanshirô II; the role of Masakado's enemy Tawara no Tôta was played by Sakurayama Shôzaemon I.

1st lunar month of 1700: Heijûrô played the role of Moriya no Daijin in the drama "Onna Chôteki Sangoku Denraiki", which was produced in Ôsaka at the Kita-Horie Ichi-no-Gawa Shibai (Ôsaka) by Araki Yojibê I.

1st lunar month of 1701: Heijûrô played in Ôsaka the role of Tawara Magosaburô in the drama "Keisei Tamazusa no Miei", which was produced by Arashi San'emon II.

3rd lunar month of 1701: Heijûrô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

Fall 1701: Heijûrô played in Ôsaka the role of Mochizuki Jûrozaemon in the drama "Nagori no Sakazuki", which was produced by Arashi San'emon II.

1st lunar month of 1704: Heijûrô played in Ôsaka the role of Abe no Munetô in the drama "Azuma Mondô", which was produced by Kataoka Nizaemon I ^[2].

11th lunar month of 1704: Heijûrô became zamoto in Ôsaka.

1st lunar month of 1705: Heijûrô produced in Ôsaka the new year drama "Miura no Ôsuke Hyakuhaimaru".

2nd lunar month of 1705: Heijûrô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki was jô (superior) [visual].

2nd lunar month of 1706: Heijûrô produced in Ôsaka the drama "Washi no Oyama Kaichô".

Fall 1706: Heijûrô went to Kyôto.

11th lunar month of 1706: Heijûrô performed at Kameya Kumenojô's theater.

3rd lunar month of 1707: Heijûrô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

8th lunar month of 1707: he was supposed to go to Edo with Murayama Heiemon III and received 50 ryô for the trip. He suddenly died and his son Murayama Kinjûrô (the future Murayama Heijûrô II) replaced him.

Comments:

Murayama Heijûrô I was a good tachiyaku actor, who was active from the 1670s to the 1700s. He was more a katakiyaku in his prime but definitively switched to tachiyaku roles in 1699. He was said to be better in jidaimono than in sewamono and was endowed with a powerful voice. He had three sons and all his sons held the name of Murayama Heijûrô ^[3].

[1] The 26th day of the 12th lunar month of the 8th year of the Genroku era was the 30th of January 1696 in the western calendar.

[2] Kataoka Nizaemon I played the role of Munetô's brother Abe no Sadatô.

[3] This is, as far as we know, the only case in Kabuki history.

Murayama Heijûrô I in an ilustration from the book "Kokon Shibai Irokurabe Hyakunin Isshu" (1st lunar month of 1693)

Prints & Illustrations

The Murayama Heijûrô line of actors