Pen names:

Shibaya Katsusuke
Shiba Shisô
Ozaki Katsusuke
Shiba Shisô
Shibaya Shisô
Shibasô

Other name:

Shibasô

Real name:

Ozaki Katsusuke

Existence: ???

Career:

Before 1783: his father was from China. His mother was a yûjo from the pleasure quarter of Maruyamamachi in the city of Nagasaki.

1st lunar month of 1783: he was recorded for the first time, working as a sakusha for the puppet theater in Edo at the Hizenza. His first pen name was Shibasô.

8th lunar month of 1786: he took the name of Shibaya Shisô and worked as a Kabuki sakusha in Kyôto at the Kitagawa no Shibai on the drama "Hira-ga-Dake Yukimi no Jindate".

Summer 1788: he settled in Edo and took the name of Shiba Shisô.

8th lunar month of 1788: premiere in Edo at the Hizenza of the puppet theater drama "Hana no Ueno Homare no Ishibumi" ^[1].

Kansei era: he worked in Kamigata as a sakusha for the puppet theater.

11th lunar month of 1798: he became a Kabuki sakusha, using his real name Ozaki Katsusuke as his pen name, and worked at the Naka no Shibai on the kaomise drama "Kogane Bana Genji no Sakigake" ^[2] and the kiri kyôgen "Kaikei Yuki no Hachinoki", which were produced by Yamashita Kamematsu and welcomed in Ôsaka the actors Sawamura Sôjûrô III and Ôtani Tomoemon II; others main actors were Nakamura Utaemon III, Arashi Hinasuke II, Yamashita Kinsaku II, Onoe Koisaburô I and Fujikawa Tomokichi I. The troupe performed in Ôsaka from the 13th day to the 23rd day. Then, the actors moved to Kyôto to perfom from the 28th day in the same kaomise program at the Kitagawa no Shibai.

8th lunar month of 1801: he took back the name of Shiba Shisô; premiere in Kyôto of the puppet theater Shiba Shisô's drama "Hakone Reigen Izari no Adauchi".

9th lunar month of 1801: premiere at the Kitagawa no Shibai of the Kabuki adaptation of Shiba Shisô's drama "Hakone Reigen Izari no Adauchi" [casting].

1st lunar month of 1802: he took the name of Shibaya Katsusuke and worked in Kyôto at the Kitagawa no Shibai on the drama "Keisei Yanagi Zakura" ^[3].

4th lunar month of 1802: Katsusuke worked in Ôsaka at the Kita no Shinchi Shibai on the drama "Yukihira Sonare Matsu".

8th lunar month of 1802: Katsusuke worked in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai on the drama "Keisei Hana Ikada".

4th lunar month of 1804: Katsusuke became tatesakusha and worked at the Naka no Shibai on the drama "Onna Fûzoku Monzen".

8th lunar month of 1804: Katsusuke worked in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai on the drama "Hade Kurabe Ise Monogatari".

10th lunar month of 1804: Katsusuke worked in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai on the drama "Monogusa Tarô". No record afterwards. He most likely died between the end of 1804 and 1808.

Comments:

Shibaya Katsusuke was not only a puppet theater and Kabuki playwright as he was also a kôdan story writer and a kôdan storyteller. He also wrote several books. He was active from the second half of the 1780s to the second half of the 1800s, mainly in Kamigata (he spent a few years in Edo).

[1] The others sakusha working with Shiba Shisô were Tsutsui Hanpei, Tankô Tazô and Tamaki Fudeji.

[2] The others sakusha working with Ozaki Katsusuke were Namiki Gohei I and Nagawa Shimesuke I.

[3] The others sakusha working with Shibaya Katsusuke were Nagawa Kunisuke, Namiki Miyosuke, Namiki Ichiei and Wakatake Tokuhei.

The name of Shibaya Katsusuke in a 1804 yakuwari banzuke
(the zone within the red shape on the left side of the picture)