Stage names:

Sodesaki Miwano I	|
Sodesaki Wakano I

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Poetry name: Chôsetsu

Existence: 1680 ~ 26nd day of the 2nd lunar month of 1736 ^[1]

Connection:

Master: Sodesaki Karyû

Disciple: Sodesaki Kikutarô

Career:

1711: disciple of Sodesaki Karyû, he started his career in Edo as an iroko. His first stage name was Sodesaki Wakano I ^[2].

1715: he became wakaonnagata and took the name of Sodesaki Miwano I.

11th lunar month of 1716: Miwano played at the Nakamuraza the role of Shiraume in the kaomise drama "Mitsudomoe Katoku Biraki", which celebrated the shûmei of Arashi Kiyosaburô II.

11th lunar month of 1720: Miwano performed at the Moritaza in the kaomise drama "Kaigô Sakiwake Shitennô".

1st lunar month of 1721: Miwano played in the same theater the role of the courtesan Kewaizaka no Shôshô in the new year sogamono "Nigiwai Suehiro Soga".

5th lunar month of 1721: Miwano played in the same theater the role of Koharu in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Shinjû Ten no Amijima"; the role of Kamiya Jihê was played by Ichikawa Danjûrô II.

11th lunar month of 1722: Miwano played at the Moritaza the role of Shirotae in the kaomise drama "Yoshitomo Fukujukai".

1st lunar month of 1723: Miwano played in the same theater the role of the courtesan Kewaizaka no Shôshô in the new year sogamono drama "Suiryô Soga".

11th lunar month of 1723: Miwano played at the Nakamuraza the role of Yoritsugu's sister Princess Seigai in the kaomise drama "Sono Enpô Onna Migyôsho", which celebrated the arrival at the Nakamuraza of the Kamigata actors Yamashita Kinsaku I and Sanogawa Senzô.

1st lunar month of 1724: Miwano's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-hankichi (superior - superior - half excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1724: Miwano played at the Ichimuraza the role of Kôtô-no-Naishi in the kaomise drama "Bankoku Taiheiki", which welcomed in Edo the Kamigata actor Matsushima Hyôtarô.

11th lunar month of 1725: Miwano performed at the Moritaza in the kaomise drama "Zentaiheiki Yotsugi Kagami".

1st lunar month of 1726: Miwano's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-(hanshiro)kichi (superior - superior - (half-white) excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1726: Miwano performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Kaomise Jûnidan".

1st lunar month of 1727: Miwano's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1727: Miwano played at the Moritaza the role of Manjû no Mae in the kaomise drama "Hônen Taiheiki"; his stage partners were Ichikawa Danzô I (Hata Rokurôzaemon), Tomizawa Hanzaburô I (Moronô), Sakata Hangorô I (Nagasaki Kageyu Saemon), Ichikawa Monnosuke I (Kusunoki Masatsura), Tamazawa Kôjûrô (Nitta Yoshisada), Fujimura Handayû II (Kusunoki Kikusui), Tsuruya Nanboku I (Shinozuka Iga-no-Kami) and Yamamoto Hanasato (Kôtô-no-Naishi).

1st lunar month of 1728: Miwano played in the same theater the role of the courtesan Ôiso no Tora in the new year drama "Hatsu Midori Aioi Soga".

11th lunar month of 1728: Miwano played at the Ichimuraza the role of Kôtô-no-Naishi in the kaomise drama "Kikusui Yoshino no Dairi".

11th lunar month of 1729: Miwano played at the Nakamuraza the role of Yorikane's kôshitsu Yagumo in the kaomise drama "Ume Goyomi Konrei Nagoya".

1st lunar month of 1730: Miwano's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-(hanshiro)kichi (superior - superior - (half-white) excellent) [visual]. He shared the same rank with Ogino Izaburô I, Hayakawa Shinkatsu and Sodesaki Iseno I.

11th lunar month of 1730: Miwano performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Irifune Hiru-ga-Kojima", which welcomed in Edo the Kamigata actor Segawa Kikunojô I.

1st lunar month of 1731: Miwano's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, fell to jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1731: Miwano performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Wagô Ichiji Taiheiki".

11th lunar month of 1732: Miwano performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Yamato Kotoba Imagawajô", which welcomed in Edo the Kamigata actors Anegawa Shinshirô I, Sakakiyama Koshirô I and Arashi Otohachi I (who celebrated his shûmei).

1st lunar month of 1733: Miwano's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-(hanshiro)kichi (superior - superior - (half-white) excellent) [visual]. He shared the same rank with Hayakawa Shinkatsu.

11th lunar month of 1733: no record of any appearance in any Edo kaomise program. Was he sick or on tour?

11th lunar month of 1734: no record of any appearance in any Edo kaomise program.

11th lunar month of 1735: Miwano appeared on stage for the last time, in Edo at the Kawarasakiza, where he played the role of Kawazu's goke Minazuru in the kaomise drama "Banzei Ikioi Izu Nikki".

1st lunar month of 1736: Miwano's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].

26nd day of the 2nd lunar month of 1736 ^[1]: Miwano died in Edo.

Comments:

Sodesaki Miwano I was a popular Edo onnagata actor, who achieved fame for himself from the end of the 1710s to the middle of the 1730s. He was said to be equally at home in jidaimono or sewamono dramas. He was also a talented musician.

[1] The 26th day of the 2nd lunar month of the 21st year of the Kyôhô era was the 6th of April 1736 in the western calendar.

[2] We have not found any record in Edo hyôbanki between 1711 and 1716.

Bandô Hikosaburô I (left) and Sodesaki Miwano I (right) in a print made by Torii Kiyomasu II

Prints & Illustrations

The Sodesaki Wakano line of actors

The Sodesaki Miwano line of actors