Stage names:

Sakakiyama Koshirô III
Sakakiyama Shirotarô II
Sakakiyama Jûtarô I
Sakakiyama Sentarô

Line number: SANDAIME (III)

Poetry name: Senshi

Existence: 1724 ~ 2nd day of the 7th lunar month of 1767 ^[1]

Connection:

Father: Sakakiyama Sagisuke

Brother: Sakakiyama Koshirô IV

Disciple: Sakakiyama Shirotarô IV

Career:

1730s: he started his career as a wakashugata, performing under the name of Sakakiyama Sentarô.

1738: he received the name of Sakakiyama Jûtarô I.

Fall 1739: Jûtarô went with his father Sakakiyama Shirotarô I to Ôsaka.

12th lunar month of 1739: Jûtarô played in the drama "Kewai Musha Ômi Genji", which was produced at the Ônishi no Shibai by Yoshizawa Ayame II.

Fall 1739: Jûtarô went back with his father to Kyôto.

12th lunar month of 1740: Jûtarô produced at Hayagumo Chôdayû's theater the drama "Chinpô Sandai Gatana", which starred his grandfather Sakakiyama Koshirô I and his father Sakakiyama Shirotarô I. The title of this drama, literally "The Rare Treasure - Three Generations of Swords" ^[2], was an allusion to the three generations of actors of the Sakakiyama clan sharing the same stage.

8th lunar month of 1741: the play "Shin Usuyuki Monogatari", which was originally written for the puppet theater, was adapted for Kabuki for the first time, in Kyôto at Hayagumo Chôdayû's theater; Jûtarô produced it and played the role of Oren [casting].

15th day of the 6th lunar month of 1747 ^[3]: his grandfather Sakakiyama Koshirô I died.

11th lunar month of 1747: Sakakiyama Shirotarô I and Sakakiyama Jûtarô I respectively took the names of Sakakiyama Koshirô II and Sakakiyama Shirotarô II, performing together in the kaomise drama "Teikin Ôrai Manzoku Kagami", which was produced by Nakamura Matsubê I at the Kitagawa no Shibai; their stage partners were Yamashita Matatarô I, Takenaka Heikichi, Fujikawa Heikurô, Fujioka Daikichi, Nakamura Kiyosaburô I, Nakamura Shirogorô III, Kasaya Matakurô I, Asao Motogorô I and Sanogawa Hanazuma II.

11th lunar month of 1749: Shirotarô produced at Ebisuya Kichirôbê's theater Fujikawa Sakoku's kaomise drama "Tokitsukazeyasu Keizu".

11th lunar month of 1750: Shirotarô produced at Ebisuya Kichirôbê's theater Fujikawa Sakoku's kaomise drama "Taira no Miyako Onna Ezôshi", in which he played the role of Tatewaki's nyôbô Fuseya

1st lunar month of 1751: Shirotarô produced in the same theater Fujikawa Sakoku's ni-no-kawari drama "Keisei Kane-ga-Fuchi", in which he played the role of the keisei Nanaura.

11th lunar month of 1751: Shirotarô produced at Miyako Handayû's theater (Minamigawa no Shibai) the kaomise drama "Kyôganoko Asahi no Nishiki".

2nd lunar month of 1755: first Kabuki adaptation of the 5 acts puppet theater drama "Ono no Tôfû Aoyagi Suzuri", which was produced by Sawamura Kunitarô I and staged at the Minamigawa no Shibai as a kaomise drama; Shirotarô played the role of Deba Jirô's wife Sasazuru [casting].

1st lunar month of 1758: first Kabuki adaptation of the puppet theater drama "Gion Sairei Shinkôki", which was simultaneously produced at the Minamigawa no Shibai [casting] and the Kitagawa no Shibai [casting]. It used its real title at the former theater but it was entitled "Keisei Niwatoriyama" at the latter theater; Shirotarô played in the former theater the role of Ubajijû.

1st lunar month of 1766: Shirotarô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual]. He shared this rank with Nakamura Kumetarô I and Nakamura Kiyosaburô I.

11th lunar month of 1766: The actors Sakakiyama Koshirô II, Sakakiyama Shirotarô II and Sakakiyama Jûtarô II respectively took the names of Sakakiyama Sagisuke, Sakakiyama Koshirô III and Sakakiyama Shirotarô III, performing together in Tenmaya Kyûshichi's kaomise drama "Umayadogimi Shitennôji Kuyô", which was produced by Edosaka Kyôemon at the Kitagawa no Shibai. The new Koshirô became a tachiyaku actor.

1st lunar month of 1767: Koshirô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual].

2nd day of the 7th lunar month of 1767 ^[1]: Koshirô died in Kyôto. His father Sakakiyama Sagisuke and his brother Sakakiyama Koshirô IV died the following year, the 9th day of the 1st lunar month of 1768 ^[4] of the former actor and the 7th day of the 3rd lunar month of 1768 ^[5] for the latter actor.

Comments:

Sakakiyama Koshirô III was a Kyôto actor, who achieved fame for himself in the Imperial city as an onnagata, reaching the prestigious jô-jô-kichi rank in 1766. As the heir of the Sakakiyama clan, he had to swith to tachiyaku roles but died a few months after his shûmei.

[1] The 2nd day of the 7th lunar month of the 4th year of the Meiwa era was the 27th of July 1767 in the western calendar.

[2] It had also a different suggestive meaning because the word chinpô was the penis in old Japanese.

[3] The 15th day of the 6th lunar month of the 4th year of the Enkyô era was the 22nd of July 1747 in the western calendar.

[4] The 9th day of the 1st lunar month of the 5th year of the Meiwa era was the 26th of February 1768 in the western calendar.

[5] The 7th day of the 3rd lunar month of the 5th year of the Meiwa era was the 23rd of April 1768 in the western calendar.

Sakakiyama Koshirô III (left) and Bandô Manzô (right) playing the roles of Tsukinowa Daihachi and Nisemono no Daihachi in the kaomise drama "Umayadogimi Shitennôji Kuyô", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1766 at the Kitagawa no Shibai

The Sakakiyama Jûtarô line of actors

The Sakakiyama Shirotarô line of actors

The Sakakiyama Koshirô line of actors