Stage name:

Nakamura Kichibê I

Others names:

Ikki
Nijuban Kichibê
Uguisu Kichibê

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Existence: 1684 ~ 17th day of the 8th lunar month of 1765 ^[1]

Connection:

Master: Nakamura Denkurô I

Son: Nakamura Kichizô I

Career:

Before 1713: he started his career not as an actor but as a taiko mochi. He used different names like Ikki, Nijuban Kichibê or Uguisu Kichibê. He took part in the 11th lunar month of 1700 in a kôjô with Ichikawa Danjûrô I on the stage of the Nakamuraza. To learn the art of acting, he became a disciple of Nakamura Denkurô I.

25th day of the 10th lunar month of 1713 ^[2]: his master Nakamura Denkurô I died.

11th lunar month of 1713: he made his first appearance on a Kabuki stage, taking the name of Nakamura Kichibê I and performing at the Moritaza in the kaomise drama "Yorimasa Taikyoku no Mato".

11th lunar month of 1714: Kichibê played at the Moritaza the role of Katsuta no Jirô in the kaomise drama "Onna Ryûko Futatsu Gashira".

1st lunar month of 1715: Kichibê's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1717: Kichibê played at the Nakamuraza the role of the uekiya Chôzô in the kaomise drama "Hachinoki Hônen Mitsugimono".

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

11th lunar month of 1724: Kichibê played at the Ichimuraza the role of Bômon Saishô in the kaomise drama "Bankoku Taiheiki", which welcomed in Edo the Kamigata actor Matsushima Hyôtarô; his stage partners were Ichikawa Danzô I, Tomizawa Hanzaburô I, Ogino Izaburô I, Ogawa Zengorô I, Sodesaki Miwano I, Mimasuya Sukejûrô I, Fujimura Handayû II, Nakajima Mihoemon I and Kamakura Chôkurô II.

11th lunar month of 1731: Kichibê became dôkegata and played at the Ichimuraza the role of Yamanaka Shikanosuke in the kaomise drama "Higashiyama Dono Eiga Butai".

1st lunar month of 1732: Kichibê's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, dôkegata section, was jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1733: Kichibê achieved a great success at the Nakamuraza by playing the role of Soga no Tarô 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, Hayakawa Denshirô, Nakamura Shichisaburô II, Sodesaki Iseno I, Ichikawa Sôzaburô I, Narumi Goroshirô I, Sakata Sadashirô, Yamashita Kamematsu I, Sanjô Kantarô II and Ôtani Ryûzaemon I.

1st lunar month of 1734: Kichibê's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, dôkegata section, was jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual]. He shared the same rank with Tsuruya Nanboku I.

11th lunar month of 1734: Kichibê performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Kyôganoko Secchû no Tamatori", which celebrated the arrival in Edo of the Kamigata actor Nakamura Shingorô I.

11th lunar month of 1736: Kichibê performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Kuni no Tomi Sesshôseki"; his stage partners were Ôtani Hiroji I, Segawa Kikunojô I, Segawa Kikujirô I, Nakajima Mihoemon I, Arashi Otohachi I, Narumi Goroshirô I, Hayakawa Denshirô, Ogino Izaburô I and Kameya Jûjirô (who arrives from Kamigata).

11th lunar month of 1737: the play "Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki" was staged for the first time in Edo, at the Kawarasakiza, as a kaomise drama entitled "Urûzuki Ninin Kagekiyo"; Kichibê played the role of Yatôta [casting].

11th lunar month of 1738: Kichibê played at the Kawarasakiza the role of Korehiro in the kaomise drama "Kotobuki Momiji Kagemasa", which celebrated the arrival in Edo of the Kamigata actors Bandô Toyosaburô I and Tomizawa Tatsunosuke.

24th day of the 4th lunar month of 1739 ^[3]: his son Nakamura Kichizô I died. This sudden death was a terrible blow for Kichibê, who decided to retire from the Kabuki world.

17th day of the 8th lunar month of 1765 ^[1]: Kichibê died in Edo ^[4].

Comments:

Nakamura Kichibê I was a talented and popular Edo actor, who started his adult life as a taiko mochi, worked as a Kabuki actor from the 1710s to the 1730s and became again a taiko mochi at the beginning of the 1740s. He was a tachiyaku in the 1710s and the 1720s but achieved fame for himself as a dôkegata in the 1730s. He was an outstanding dancer and became famous for the creation of the dance entitled "Daijinmai" (the Dance of the Millionaires), which was created for the Shin-Yoshiwara patron Kinokuniya Bunzaemon, a famous merchant from Wakayama Prefecture who made his fortune in shipping trade and spent a lot of money in the pleasure quarter.

[1] The 17th day of the 8th lunar month of the 2nd year of the Meiwa era was the 1st of October 1765 in the western calendar.

[2] The 25th day of the 10th lunar month of the 3rd year of the Shôtoku era was the 12th of December 1713 in the western calendar.

[3] The 24th day of the 4th lunar month of the 4th year of the Genbun era was the 31st of May 1739 in the western calendar.

[4] Nakamura Kichibê I's tombstone was located in the cemetery of the Jôzaiji temple of the Yanaka district.

Nakamura Kichibê I (bottom/left), his son Nakamura Kichizô I (top/left) and Nakamura Shichisaburô II (top/right) playing the roles of Yatôta, Princess Hitomaru and Chichibu no Korokurô in the kaomise drama "Urûzuki Ninin Kagekiyo", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1737 at the Kawarasakiza