Stage names:

Bandô Mitsugorô VI
Bandô Kichiya I

Nicknames:

Aba Mitsu ("pockmarked Mitsu")
Kichiya Mitsugorô

Guild: Yamatoya

Line number: ROKUDAIME (VI)

Poetry names: Shûka, Shûzan

Existence: 1846 ~ 11 September 1873

Connection:

Father: Bandô Shûka I

Adopted son: Bandô Shûka II

Disciples: Bandô Tamae, Bandô Kichiya (?)

Career:

5th lunar month of 1850: he made his first appearance on stage at the Nakamuraza, where he received the name of Bandô Kichiya I and played the role of Kuzu-no-Ha's child in the classic "Ashiya Dôman Ôuchi Kagami".

2nd lunar month of 1851: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Sakurada Jisuke III's Kiyomoto-based dance "Akegarasu Hana no Nureginu", commonly called "Urazato Tokijirô"; Kichiya played the role of a kamuro [casting].

2nd lunar month of 1853: premiere at the Kawarasakiza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Shiranui Monogatari", which was based on Ryûkatei Tanekazu's long novel of the same title [more details]; Kichiya played the role of Isuke's son Inomatsu.

6th day of the 3rd lunar month of 1855 ^[1]: his father Bandô Shûka I died.

5th lunar month of 1856: shûmei at the Moritaza; Bandô Kichiya I took the name of Bandô Mitsugorô V, performing in the drama "Shin Butai Iroha no Kakizome". This program celebrated the reopening of the Moritaza.

5th lunar month of 1861: premiere at the Moritaza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Ryû to Mimasu Takane no Kumokiri"; Mitsugorô played the roles of Bunzaemon's musume Omitsu and Sentakuya's musume Okichi [casting].

8th lunar month of 1861: premiere at the Moritaza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Sakura Sôshi Gonichi no Bundan", a revised version of Segawa Jokô III's drama "Higashiyama Sakura Sôshi"; Mitsugorô played the role of Princess Kaoru [casting].

10th lunar month of 1861: premiere at the Moritaza of Segawa Jokô III's drama "Zôho Futatsu Domoe"; Mitsugorô played the roles of the keisei Usugumo and the katanaya daughter Ohana [casting].

5th lunar month of 1862: premiere at the Moritaza of the drama "Shinpan Ukina no Yomiuri"; Mitsugorô played the role of the geisha Oito [more details].

8th lunar month of 1862: premiere at the Moritaza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Kanzen Chôaku Nozoki Garakuri"; Mitsugorô played the role of the courtesan Sayoginu [casting].

6th lunar month of 1863: Mitsugorô played at the Moritaza the roles of Yamakawaya Gonroku and the female thief Hanaoka, who held 5 different names and disguises (Kaminari no Onaru, Gokuin Osen, Hotei no Oichi, Annozaka no Odaka and Karigane no Obun), in the drama "Sono Na Nomi Kariganezome". This parodic play was in fact the female version of the famous "Karigane Gonin Otoko" (an Ôsaka sewamono whose heroes were 5 thieves called Kaminari Shôkurô, Gokuin Sen'emon, Hotei Ichiemon, An no Heibê and Karigane Bunshichi) and was therefore nicknamed "Karigane Gonin Onna" ^[2]. Mitsugorô also played several roles in the Tokiwazu/Fujimoto/Kiyomoto/Nagauta-based hengemono "Yorite Mitsu Ôyomiya no Hanadashi", which commemorated the 32nd anniversary (33rd memorial service) of the passing away of Bandô Mitsugorô III.

2nd lunar month of 1864: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Soga Moyô Tateshi no Goshozome"; Mitsugorô played the role of Ôshû [casting].

August ~ 9th lunar month of 1868: Mitsugorô played the roles of Ono no Komachi and the courtesan Sumizome (in reality the spirit of Komachi's cherry tree) in the dance-drama "Tsumoru Koi Yuki no Seki no To", which was coproduced by both the Moritaza and the Nakamuraza; his stage partners were Nakamura Nakazô III (Sekibê/Kuronushi) and Nakamura Fukusuke III (Yoshimine Munesada).

7th lunar month of 1869: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Kichisama Mairu Yukari no Otozure"; Mitsugorô played the roles of the mekake Omitsu (later Yushima no Okan) and Oshichi [casting].

11th lunar month of 1869: Mitsugorô became tateonnagata at the Nakamuraza and played 3 roles in the drama "Iga Ueno Homare no Shorô". He also played the role of the courtesan Yûgiri in the drama "Kuruwa Bunshô"; his stage partner in the role of Fujiya Izaemon was Nakamura Shikan IV.

3rd lunar month of 1870: premiere at the Nakamuraza of "Ume Goyomi Tatsumi no Sono", an adaptation to Kabuki by Kawatake Shinshichi II and Segawa Jokô III of Tamenaga Shunsui's 1833 novel "Shunshoku Ume Goyomi"; Mitsugorô played the role of the geisha Yonehachi [casting].

8th lunar month of 1870: Mitsugorô played at the Nakamuraza the roles of Okaru, Ichimonjiya Odai and Toda no Tsubone in the classic "Kanadehon Chûshingura".

1st lunar month of 1872: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the drama "Ume Kyôdai Naniwa Senki" (one act has survived and became the independent drama "Kimura Nagato-no-Kami"); Mitsugorô played the roles of Yodogimi, the female thief Ômi no Okane and Sanada Yukimura's nyôbô Kagaribi [casting].

9th lunar month of 1872: Mitsugorô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Ono no Komachi in the dance-drama "Tsumoru Koi Yuki no Seki no To"; his stage partners were Nakamura Shikan IV (Sekibê/Kuronushi), Onoe Kikugorô V (the courtesan Sumizome, the spirit of Komachi's cherry tree) and Iwai Shijaku III (Yoshimine Munesada).

February 1873: Mitsugorô agrees for a 240 ryô yearly contract with the Murayamaza. He moved there and performed in the drama "Sakai no Taiko".

July 1873: Mitsugorô appeared on stage for the last time, at the Murayamaza, performing in the drama "Kao ni Momiji Mitsugumi Sakazuki". He fell ill and stopped acting.

11 September 1873: Mitsugorô died.

Comments:

Bandô Mitsugorô VI was a talented and promising wakaonnagata and the worthy heir of his outstanding father Bandô Shûka I. Unfortunately he died young at the age of 27.

Bandô Mitsugorô VI was in fact Bandô Mitsugorô V during his career but the Kabuki world decided to give posthumously this prestigious name to his father, who became the fifth of the line and his son the sixth.

[1] The 6th day of the 3rd lunar month of the 2nd year of the Ansei era was the 31st of March 1855 in the western calendar.

[2] His father Bandô Shûka I performed in a very similar play in the 5th lunar month of 1853.

Bandô Mitsugorô VI playing the role of Shinobu in the drama "Go Taiheiki Shiraishi Banashi", which was staged in the 5th lunar month of 1870 at the Nakamuraza

Prints & Illustrations

Print made by Utagawa Yoshitora

Print made by Toyohara Kunichika in 1870

Print made by Toyohara Kunichika in 1877

The Bandô Kichiya line of actors

The Bandô Mitsugorô line of actors