Stage name:

Bandô Matakurô I

Other name:

Bandô Tarobê [1]

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Existence: 1632 ~ 10th day of the 4th lunar month of 1700 ^[2]

Connection:

Master: Morita Tarobê I

Sons: Bandô Matajirô I (Bandô Matazaemon I), Morita Kan'ya I

Grandsons: Bandô Matatarô I, Bandô Matakurô II, Bandô Matakurô III

Great-grandsons: Bandô Matatarô II, Fujikawa Heikurô, Morita Kan'ya IV

Great-great-grandsons: Fujikawa Hachizô I, Fujikawa Tôkurô, Fujikawa Kamenoi

Disciples: Tamamura Kichiya, Miyagi Katsunojô

Career:

1632: most likely born in Kamigata. He became disciple of Morita Tarobê I at an unknown date and performed under the name of Bandô Matakurô I as a dôkegata in Kyôto theaters.

1659: Matakurô and his master settled together to Edo.

9th lunar month of 1659: they applied to the authorities for the licence to open a Kabuki theater in the district of Kobiki-chô.

1st lunar month of 1660: opening of the Moritaza.

14th day of the 1st lunar month of 1660 ^[4]: a fire broke out in the district of Yushima, which destroyed the newly-constructed Moritaza.

5th lunar month of 1660: opening of the rebuilt Moritaza in the district of Kobiki-chô.

1660~1661: Matakurô went back to Kyôto to perform there.

1662: Matakurô and Tamagawa Sennojô I went together to Edo.

11th lunar month of 1665: Matakurô opened his own theater, the Matakurôza, in the district of Sakai-chô. His program was made up of "Sagano Chôja", "Ise Ura Kaishi", "Akazomeemon", "Kagekiyo Komai", "Mukashi Odori", "Yakko Momijigari" and "Banji Tama". His casting included the actors Tamon Shôzaemon I, Dekishima Kozarashi I, Tamamura Kichiya, Komai Shôzaemon, Umeda Mon'ya and his son Bandô Matajirô I.

1st lunar month of 1667: Matakurô produced several short dance-dramas in his theater, including "Sumiyoshi Mondô" and "Asagi Zakura".

5th lunar month of 1668: his second son took the name of Morita Kan'ya I.

11th lunar month of 1675: Matakurô performed at the theater managed by Morita Kan'ya I and Kawarasaki Gonnosuke I; the others actors were Matsumoto Kozarashi, Yamakawa Naiki, Tamamura Kichiya and Bandô Matajirô I.

25th day of the 2nd lunar month of 1679 ^[3]: his son Morita Kan'ya I died.

Spring 1679: Matakurô's grandson Bandô Fukutarô took the name of Morita Kan'ya II and became the new zamoto of the Moritaza.

1685: Matakurô and his grandson Bandô Matatarô I performed together at the Moritaza in the drama "Usuyuki Monogatari".

1690s: Bandô Matakurô I retired and called himself Bandô Tarobê ^[1].

11th lunar month of 1699: Matakurô's grandsons Morita Kan'ya II and Bandô Matajirô II respectively took the names of Bandô Matazaemon II and Morita Kan'ya III.

10th day of the 4th lunar month of 1700 ^[2]: he died in Edo.

Comments:

Bandô Matakurô I was the founder of the Bandô clan. He took part with his master Morita Tarobê I in the foundation of the Moritaza and his second son Morita Kan'ya I became the second official zamoto of this theater. He occasionnally worked as a zamoto in the second half of the 1660s. As an actor, Bandô Matakurô I was a renowned dôkegata, excelling in comical hyôshimai.

[1] This name was recorded in Nojima Jusaburô's book "Kabuki Jinmei Jiten"; it was not recorded in the latest edition (2012) of "Kabuki Haiyû Meiseki Benran" or in the Ritsumeikan Univ. Actors Database.

[2] The 10th day of the 4th lunar month of the 13th year of the Genroku era was the 28th of May 1700 in the western calendar.

[3] The 25th day of the 2nd lunar month of the 7th year of the Enpô era was the 5th of April 1679 in the western calendar.

[4] The 14th day of the 1st lunar month of the 3rd year of the Manji era was the 24th of February 1660 in the western calendar.

Bandô Matakurô I in an ilustration from the book "Kokon Shibai Irokurabe Hyakunin Isshu" (1st lunar month of 1693)

The Bandô Matakurô line of actors and theater managers