Stage names:

Yamanaka Heikurô I
Suzuki Heikurô

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Poetry name: Sen'ya

Existence: 1642 ~ 15th day of the 5th lunar month of 1724 ^[1]

Connections:

Master: Suzuki Heizaemon I

Son-in-law: Yamanaka Takejûrô

Disciples: Yamanaka Heikurô II, Yamanaka Heijûrô I, Yamanaka Seikurô, Yamanaka Heishirô I

Career:

1642 ~ 1689: he started his career as a disciple of Suzuki Heizaemon I, who gave him the name of Suzuki Heikurô. Then, he took the name of Yamanaka Heikurô I at an unknown date.

1689: Heikurô became jitsuaku at the Nakamuraza.

1st lunar month of 1697: premiere of the bombastic "Shibaraku" scene (Kabuki Jûhachiban), at the Nakamuraza, performed within the drama "Daifukuchô Sankai Nagoya". Heikurô played the villain role and his stage partners were Ichikawa Danjûrô I and Ogino Sawanojô.

1st lunar month of 1700: Heikurô played at the Yamamuraza the role of Kudô Saemon Suketsune in the new year drama "Keisei Asama-ga-Dake".

3rd lunar month of 1700: Heikurô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1700: Heikurô performed at the Nakamuraza in the drama "Kinpira Rokujô Gayoi".

1st lunar month of 1701: Heikurô played in the same theater the role of Suzuka no Ôji [print] in the drama "Keisei Ôshôkun", which included for the first time in Kabuki history the "Zôhiki" scene (Kabuki Jûhachiban).

3rd lunar month of 1701: Heikurô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, was jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1702: Heikurô performed at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Yorimasa Hôraizan".

11th lunar month of 1704: Heikurô achieved a great success at the Moritaza by playing the role of the warrior Taira no Kagekiyo in the kaomise drama "Jitsuaku Shichibyôei Kagekiyo".

11th lunar month of 1706: premiere at the Yamamuraza of the drama "Taihei Shusse Kagekiyo Shiraume no Hata", which was considered as an earlier version of the Kabuki Jûhachiban drama "Kagekiyo"; Heikurô played the role of Kumagai Jirô Naozane [casting].

11th lunar month of 1710: Heikurô played at the Ichimuraza the role of Kusunoki Masanari in the kaomise drama "Shusse Taiheiki", which celebrated the shûmei of Takii Hanshirô and welcomed in Edo the Kamigata actor Kirinami Takie.

11th lunar month of 1711: Heikurô played at the Ichimuraza the role of Kusunoki Masashige in the kaomise drama "Shusse Taiheiki".

1st lunar month of 1713: Heikurô played at the Yamamuraza the role of Ôtakemaru in the drama "Ishiyama Genta Kimon Yaburi".

11th lunar month of 1716: Heikurô played at the Ichimuraza the role of the rebel Abe no Sadatô in the drama "Yoroi Kurabe Ôshû Gane".

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

1st lunar month of 1720: Heikurô played at the Ichimuraza the role of Kudô Saemon Suketsune in the drama "Kamanari Nigiwai Soga".

11th lunar month of 1720: Heikurô played at the Ichimuraza the role of Akamatsu Danjôzaemon in the kaomise drama "Kodakara Imagawajô", which celebrated the shûmei of his son-in-law Yamanaka Takejûrô.

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

Spring 1724: Heikurô appeared on stage for the last time, playing at the Ichimuraza the role of the nyûdô Itô in the drama "Yomeiri Izu Nikki".

15th day of the 5th lunar month of 1724 ^[1]: Heikurô died in Edo.

Comments:

Yamanaka Heikurô I, a stage giant of the Genroku era, was, along with Ôtani Hiroemon I, one of the first great katakiyaku and jitsuaku in Kabuki history: "Many stories are told of the impressiveness of this stage villain, and how even the actors playing with him sometimes became frightened at his appearance. He was of large physique and a man of forceful character, so that he was eminently fitted to play the diabolical katakiyaku whose fierceness and violence caused the Edo audience of those days to feel thrills of horror." (Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan")

[1] The 15th day of the 5th lunar month of the 9th year of the Kyôhô era was the 5th of July 1724 in the western calendar.

Yamanaka Heikurô I (bottom/left) and Ichikawa Danjûrô I (top/right) playing the roles of Asaina and Soga Gorô in the drama "Tsuwamono Gongen Soga", which was staged in the 5th lunar month of 1697 at the Nakamuraza

Prints & Illustrations

Print made by Torii Kiyonobu in 1714

The Yamanaka Heikurô line of actors