Stage names:

Yoshida Manshirô
Yoshida Ikushirô
Yoshida Manshirô

Existence: ???

Connection:

Father: Yoshida Jûrobê II

Career:

Before 1729: son of the dôkegata Yoshida Jûrobê II, his first stage name was Yoshida Manshirô.

1st lunar month of 1729: Manshirô started his career in Kyôto, performing as an iroko.

11th lunar month of 1732: Manshirô performed at the Naka no Shibai as an iroko in the kaomise drama "Shikishima Wakô no Tsuzumi", which was produced by Iwai Hanshirô III.

11th lunar month of 1733: Manshirô became wakashugata, playing at the Naka no Shibai the role of Matsujirô in the kaomise drama "Genji Rokujûjô", which celebrated the arrival in the new line-up of Sawamura Otoemon I.

Fall 1745: he went to Edo.

11th lunar month of 1745: Yoshida Manshirô took the name of Yoshida Ikushirô at the Moritaza, playing the roles of Tomoe Gozen and Sanehira's daughter Matsu-no-Kimi in the kaomise drama "Chikyôdai Izu Nikki".

1st lunar month of 1746: Ikushirô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual]. He shared the same rank with Tamazawa Saijirô I. He played in the same theater the roles of Ushiwaka and Kumasaka's wife in the new year drama "Gosho Ganoko Jûnidan".

1st lunar month of 1747: Ikushirô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual]. He shared the same rank with Sawamura Kodenji II.

11th lunar month of 1748: Yoshida Ikushirô took back the name of Yoshida Manshirô at the Kado no Shibai, where he played the role of Katada Hikokurô's spouse Otoha in the kaomise drama "Toyoashihara Taihei Keizu"; the role of Hikokurô was played by Arashi Sanjûrô II.

12th lunar month of 1748: the play "Kanadehon Chûshingura", which was originally written for the puppet theater and staged for the first time in the 8th lunar month of 1748 in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza, was adapted for Kabuki for the first time, in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai; Manshirô played the role of Okaru [casting].

1st lunar month of 1749: Manshirô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was only jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent).

7th lunar month of 1749: Manshirô played in the same theater the role of Karaito and Ohyaku in the drama "Osana Narihira Izutsu no Kagami"; this was most likely his last appearance on a Kabuki stage.

Comments:

Yoshida Manshirô was a Kamigata onnagata actor, who made a short career from the end of the 1720s to the end of the 1740s. He was more popular in Edo, where he made a short stay in 1745~1747, than in Ôsaka. He was the first actor in Kabuki history to perform the role of Okaru in the drama "Kanadehon Chûshingura".

Yoshida Manshirô playing the role of Otoha in the kaomise drama "Toyoashihara Taihei Keizu", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1748 at the Kado no Shibai

Prints & Illustrations