Stage name:

Sakata Ichitarô

Poetry name: Chôshô

Existence: ???

Connection:

Adoptive father: Sakata Tôjûrô II (?) ^[1]

Master: Sakata Hangorô I (?) ^[1]

Career:

1727: he moved from Kyôto to Edo.

1st lunar month of 1728: Ichitarô performed at the Nakamuraza as an iroko wakaonnagata the role of Kisegawa in the new year sogamono "Soga Hôraisan".

11th lunar month of 1728: Ichitarô performed as an iroko at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Hoshi Kabuto Goban Tadanobu".

11th lunar month of 1735: Ichitarô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Fujitsubo in the kaomise drama "Tono Zukuri Shinoda-zuma".

11th lunar month of 1730: Ichitarô became wakaonnagata and played at the Nakamuraza the role of Yadoriki in the kaomise drama "Irifune Hiru-ga-Kojima", which welcomed in Edo the Kamigata actor Segawa Kikunojô I.

11th lunar month of 1733: Ichitarô performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Nagi no Hana Asahi Genji"; his stage partners were Sawamura Sôjûrô I, Anegawa Shinshirô I, Segawa Kikunojô I, Ogino Izaburô I, Narumi Goroshirô I, Nakamura Shichisaburô II, Sodesaki Iseno I, Ichikawa Sôzaburô I, Hayakawa Denshirô, Nakamura Kichibê I, Sakata Sadashirô, Yamashita Kamematsu I, Sanjô Kantarô II and Ôtani Ryûzaemon I.

11th lunar month of 1735: Ichitarô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Fujitsubo Gozen in the kaomise drama "Tono Zukuri Shinoda-zuma".

Fall 1740: Ichitarô went back to Kyôto.

11th lunar month of 1740: Ichitarô played in Kyôto at Miyako Mandayû's theater the role of Otsuyu in the kaomise drama "Asuka Miyako Jindai no Maki", which was produced by Nakamura Kumetarô I.

1st lunar month of 1741: Ichitarô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was two black strokes above jô-jô-(hanshiro)kichi (superior - superior - almost excellent) [visual]. Ichitarô performed in the same theater in the new year ni-no-kawari drama "Keisei Ôigawa".

2nd lunar month of 1741: Ichitarô played in the same theater the role of the courtesan Ôiso no Tora (Jûrô's lover) in the san-no-kawari drama "Date Kosode Susono no Sakura". This drama was sogamono, a rare feature in Kamigata. The roles of Kudô Saemon Suketsune, Soga Gorô Tokimune, Soga Jûrô Sukenari and the courtesan Kewaizaka no Shôshô (Gorô's lover) were played by Fujikawa Hanzaburô II, Ogino Izaburô I, Somematsu Shichisaburô I and Nakamura Kiyosaburô I.

11th lunar month of 1741: Ichitarô became zamoto and produced in Kyôto the kaomise drama "Chôseiden Wagô no Futahashira", in which he played the role of Tabakoya Oiyo.

5th lunar month of 1742: Chikamatsu Monzaemon's play "Shinshû Kawanakajima Kassen" was adapted for Kabuki for the first time, in Kyôto at the Kitagawa no Shibai; Ichitarô produced the drama and played the role of Okatsu [more details].

11th lunar month of 1742: Ichitarô produced in Kyôto at Ebisuya Kichirôbê's theater the role the kaomise drama "Yamato-fumi Kaoyo Hinagata", in which he played the role of the goke Sekiya.

1st lunar month of 1743: Ichitarô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was two black strokes above jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual]. Ichitarô produced in the same theater the ni-no-kawari drama "Keisei Muromachi Zakura".

11th lunar month of 1743: no record in any kaomise in Kyôto or Ôsaka. Was he on tour (tabi shibai)? Was he on sick leave?

11th lunar month of 1744: Ichitarô played at the Kado no Shibai the role of the tsubone Kiyose (the menoto of Princess Tamano) in the kaomise drama "Yamazaki Yojibê Imayô Sugata",

1st lunar month of 1745: Ichitarô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was one black stroke above jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1745: Ichitarô played at the Ônishi no Shibai the role of the keisei Hanaura in the kaomise drama "Tônai Tarô Danjiri Roppô", which celebrated the shûmei of Arashi Shinpei I and Arashi San'emon IV.

1st lunar month of 1746: Ichitarô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was two black strokes above jô-jô-(hanshiro)kichi (superior - superior - almost excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1748: Ichitarô became tachiyaku and played at the Naka no Shibai the role of Wada Yoshiuji in Namiki Shôzô I's kaomise drama "Fuyugomori Tsumagoi Ikusa".

1st lunar month of 1749: Ichitarô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was two black strokes above jô-(shiro)jô (superior - (white) superior) [visual]. He shared the same rank with Nakamura Utaemon I, Sawamura Shinji, Ichinokawa Hikoshirô II, Yamamoto Koheiji and Ichimura Oniji.

1750: Ichitarô performed as a tachiyaku in Ise at the Furuichi no Shibai. No record afterwards.

Comments:

Sakata Ichitarô was active in Kamigata and in Edo from the second half of the 1720s to the beginning of the 1750s. He was an onnagata actor up to the end of the 1740s. Then, he switched to tachiyaku roles. His mon was not the classic ones of the Sakata clan but a butterfly in a circle.

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

Fujimura Handayû II and Sakata Ichitarô playing the roles of Naniwazu and Fujitsubo Gozen in the kaomise drama "Tono Zukuri Shinoda-zuma", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1735 at the Nakamuraza