Stage name:

Somekawa Jûrobê

Poetry name: Kengai

Existence: ??? ~ 1708

Connection:

Disciples: Anegawa Shinshirô I, Somekawa Ubê

Career:

Before 1690: he performed in tabi shibai under the name of Somekawa Jûrobê.

1690: first record in ôshibai in Kyôto.

1698: Jûrobê played in Kyôto the role of Saemon-no-Kami Kiyotsura in the drama "Semimaru Nido no Shusse".

3rd lunar month of 1698: Jûrobê played in Kyôto the role of Harukawa Tosanosuke in the drama "Yoyo no Migakura".

Fall 1699: Jûrobê went to Edo.

11th lunar month of 1699: Jûrobê performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Taira no Kiyomori Bijin Zoroi".

1st lunar month of 1700: Jûrobê played in the same theater the role of Kondô Sakonnosuke in the new year drama "Mannen Goyomi Inariyama".

11th lunar month of 1700: Jûrobê played at the Yamamuraza the role of Watanabe Genji Saemon in the kaomise drama "Yorimasa Mannen Goyomi".

1st lunar month of 1701: Jûrobê played in the same theater the role of Tôkurô Morinaga in the new year drama "Keisei Mitsu Urokogata".

Fall 1701: Jûrobê went to Ôsaka.

11th lunar month of 1701: Jûrobê played in Ôsaka the role of the karô Danjô in the kaomise drama "Nihon Hôzô Bigu".

1st lunar month of 1702: Jûrobê played in the same theater the role of Muronotsu Mikinojô in the ni-no-kawari drama "Yome Kagami" [picture].

1st lunar month of 1704: Jûrobê performed in Kyôto at Hayagumo Chôdayû's theater in the new year drama "Musume Chôja Hagoita no Eawase", which was produced by Yamatoya Tôkichi.

3rd lunar month of 1704: Jûrobê played in the same theater the role of Kinjûrô in the san-no-kawari drama "Kaga no Kuni Bijo no Iwaya".

4th lunar month of 1704: Jûrobê's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô (superior) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1706: Jûrobê played the role of Mitsunojô in the kaomise drama "Shinpan Honma Kyôgen", which was produced by Iwai Hanshirô II.

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

11th lunar month of 1707: Jûrobê performed in Ôsaka in the kaomise drama "Manpô Chibako no Tama", which was produced by Kataoka Nizaemon I.

1st lunar month of 1708: Jûrobê performed in the same theater in the new year drama "Minamoto no Manjû Okina Muko". No record afterwards. He most likely died in 1708.

Comments:

Somekawa Jûrobê was a Genroku period Kamigata actor, who was specialized in tachiyaku roles. He started his career in tabi shibai and was active in ôshibai during the 1690s and the 1700s. He made a 2-year stay in Edo. His recollections were recorded in a book which was written by the sakusha Azuma Sanpachi and was entitled "The Kengai Collection" (translated by Charles J. Dunn and Torigoe Bunzô in "The Actors' Analects").

Somekawa Jûrobê (bottom/first from left) playing the role of Mitsunojô in the kaomise drama "Shinpan Honma Kyôgen", which was staged in Ôsaka in the 11th lunar month of 1706

Prints & Illustrations