Stage names:

Sawamura Kunitarô III
Ichikawa Suminojô
Bandô Kashô
Ichikawa Suminojô
Nakamura Kaoru
Nakayama Enshi

Other name:

Ichikawa Kashô

Guilds: Kawasakiya ^[1], Oginoya ^[1], Naritaya ^[2]

Line number: SANDAIME (III)

Poetry names: Kashô, Kishô

Existence: ???

Connection:

Masters: Ichikawa Ebizô V, Nakamura Karoku I, Nakamura Tamasuke, Nakayama Nanshi II

Career:

Dates of birth and death unknown. He started his career as a disciple of the actor Nakayama Nanshi II, who gave him the name of Nakayama Enshi and trained him to perform in kodomo shibai in Kyôto from the beginning of the 1830s.

1839: he became disciple of Nakamura Tamasuke and received the name of Nakamura Kaoru. Later, he worked for Nakamura Karoku I.

1st lunar month of 1846: he joined Ichikawa Ebizô V and received the name of Ichikawa Suminojô.

1st to the 12th lunar months of 1847: he took the name of Bandô Kashô.

1st lunar month of 1848: he took back the name of Ichikawa Suminojô.

1st lunar month of 1866: Suminojô's rank in the Kamigata hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual]. he finally took the name of Sawamura Kunitarô III at the Naka no Shibai, where he performed in the new year ni-no-kawari drama "Keisei Hana no Tôriya"; his stage partners were Jitsukawa Gakujûrô II, Nakamura Jakuemon I, Jitsukawa Enjaku I and Arashi Hinasuke VI.

8th lunar month of 1866: Kunitarô played at the Horie no Shibai (Ôsaka) the role of Masaoka in the drama "Date Kurabe Okuni Kabuki".

9th lunar month of 1866: Kunitarô played at the Naka no Shibai the role of Osan in the drama "Daikyôji Mukashi Goyomi"; the role of Mohê was played by Jitsukawa Gakujûrô II.

11th lunar month of 1866: Kunitarô performed at the Minamigawa no Shibai in "Keisei Somewake Tazuna", "Koi Bikyaku Yamato Ôrai" and "Kagamiyama Kokyô no Nishikie".

2nd lunar month of 1867: Kunitarô played at the Naka no Shibai the role of Magaki in the drama "Shin Usuyuki Monogatari". He also played the role of Ono no Komachi in the dance-drama "Rokkasen".

3rd lunar month of 1868: Kunitarô played at the Naka no Shibai the role of Yodomachi Gozen in the drama "Keisei Masago no Shiranami". He also played the role of Kewaizaka no Shôshô (Gorô's lover) ^[3] in the sogamono drama "Chô Chidori Omokage Soga".

11th lunar month of 1868: Kunitarô played at the Minamigawa no Shibai the roles of Osono and Oishi in "Kanadehon Chûshingura". He also played the role of Hamayû in "Ôshû Adachi-ga-Hara".

5th lunar month of 1869: Kunitarô played at the Chikugo no Shibai the role of Watônai's mother in "Kokusen'ya Gassen"; the role of Watônai was played by Arashi Rikan IV.

11th lunar month of 1870: Kunitarô performed at the Naka no Shibai in the dramas "Keisei Sato no Funauta", "Kishi no Himematsu Kutsuwa Kagami" and "Taiheiki Chûshin Kôshaku".

January 1890: Kunitarô performed in Tôkyô at the Azumaza (a koshibai venue).

Spring 1901: last-recorded performance, in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai.

Comments:

Sawamura Kunitarô III made a long career on stage, from the first half of the 1830s to the beginning of the 1900s. He traveled a lot during his career, not only in his native Kamigata, but also in Tôkyô and the central provinces. He was able to play quite a wide range of roles, either as a tachiyaku or an onnagata. He was active in Kamigata ôshibai during the 1860s and the beginning of the 1870s. From the 1870s to the beginning of the 1900s, he performed mainly in koshibai or tabi shibai.

[1] He used this yagô when he was in the Sawamura Clan.

[2] He used this yagô when he was in the Ichikawa Clan.

[3] The roles of Kudô Saemon Suketsune, Soga Gorô Tokimune, Soga Jûrô Sukenari, Ôiso no Tora (Jûrô's lover) and Oniô Shinzaemon (Jûrô's retainer) were played by Nakamura Sôjûrô, Nakamura Komanosuke V, Jitsukawa Enzaburô II, Ogino Senjo and Nakamura Jakuemon I.

Sawamura Kunitarô III playing the role of Hazue in the drama "Hachijin Shugo no Honjô", which was staged in the 3rd lunar month of 1866 at the Naka no Shibai (print made by Nakai Yoshitaki)

Print made by Nakai Yoshitaki in 1866

The Sawamura Kunitarô line of actors