Stage names:

Yamatoya Uzaemon
Mizuki Tatsunosuke I	|
Tsurukawa Tatsunosuke II
Tsuyugawa Ryûnosuke [1]
Yamatoya Ushimatsu

Others names: Jinkurô, Seijûrô

Guild: Yamatoya

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Existence: 1673 ~ 23rd day of the 9th lunar month of 1745 ^[2]

Connections:

Uncle: Yamatoya Jinbê II

Father: Saitô Shinpachi

Disciples: Mizuki Tatsunosuke II, Mizuki Takejûrô, Mizuki Somenosuke I, Mizuki Somenosuke II, Miogi Naniwa, Yamatoya Jin'emon, Mizuki Tominosuke, Mizuki Sawanosuke

Career:

1673: born in Ôsaka. He was the son of the handôgataki Saitô Shinpachi.

1681 ~ 1685: he started his career in Ôsaka in a troupe of children-actors (kodomo shibai), performing under the name of Yamatoya Ushimatsu. Later on, he took the name of Tsuyugawa Ryûnosuke ^[1].

1685: he took the name of Tsurugawa Tatsunosuke II and became wakashugata.

1687: he took the name of Mizuki Tatsunosuke I.

1689: Tatsunosuke went with his uncle Yamatoya Jinbê II to Kyôto.

1st lunar month of 1689: Tatsunosuke became wakaonnagata and performed at Miyako Mandayû's theater in the drama "Keisei Sode no Umi".

1690: Tatsunosuke played in the same theater the role of Ayame in the drama "Kanaoka-ga-Fude". Around that time, he changes the writing of his family name:

You need a Japanese Language Kit installed within your system in order to be able to read the characters

1st lunar month of 1691: Tatsunosuke achieved a great success in the same theater by playing the role of Arima no Ofuji in the drama "Musume Oya no Adauchi", which included a impressive yari odori.

3rd lunar month of 1691: Tatsunosuke went to Edo and performed at the Nakamuraza in the drama "Onna Katakiuchi". His stay in Edo was short and he quickly went back to Kyôto to play the role of Okiku in the drama "Ichi-no-Tani Sakaotoshi", which was staged at Hayagumo Chôdayû's theater.

1692: The purple hat which he used on stage became the latest fashion in the city of Kyôto and was called "Mizuki Bôshi" ("the Mizuki hat").

11th lunar month of 1693: Tatsunosuke performed in the drama "Hako Denju", which was produced in Kyôto by Murayama Heiemon III; his main stage partner was the Edo star Ichikawa Danjûrô I, who was on tour in the Imperial Capital.

3rd lunar month of 1694: Tatsunosuke played in the same theater the role of Princess Taema in the drama "Narukami Yûjoron"; the role of the wicked priest Narukami was played by Ichikawa Danjûrô I.

9th lunar month of 1694: Tatsunosuke played in the same theater the role of Tomoe-no-Mae in the drama "Kumagai Nagori no Sakazuki"; his stage partners were Ichikawa Danjûrô I (Kumagai Jirô Naozane), Yamatoya Jinbê II (Taira no Tadanori), Murayama Heiemon III (Iga Heinai Saemon), Sakata Tôkurô (Taira no Michimori), Iwai Hananojô (Michimori's wife), Onoe Taganojô I (Taira no Atsumori), Tomizawa Samanosuke (Kumagai's wife) and Uemura Takenojô (Kumagai's son).

1st lunar month of 1695: Tatsunosuke played at Hayagumo Chôdayû's theater the role of Himematsu in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Ima Genji Rokujûjô". He also performed the leading role of a beautiful and very successful dance about a maiden, who loves his brother but can't understand why such a love was forbidden and turns into a cat, frantically drifting among butterflies.

9th lunar month of 1695: Tatsunosuke played at Miyako Mandayû's theater the role of Arima no Ofuji in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Mizuki Tatsunosuke Tachiburu Mai".

Fall 1695: Tatsunosuke went to Edo.

11th lunar month of 1695: Tatsunosuke played at the Ichimuraza in the drama "Shiki Gosho Zakura". He performed the leading role of a yari odori, achieving a great success. The "Mizuki Bôshi" ("the Mizuki hat") also became a new fashion in Edo and there was a shop in Asakusa, which used to sell jewel caskets named "Mizuki Miyage" (literally "Souvenir of Mizuki").

Fall 1697: Tatsunosuke went back to Kyôto.

11th lunar month of 1697: Tatsunosuke achieved a great success at Miyako Mandayû's theater by performing all the roles of a 7-role hengemono, which was titles "Nana Bake". Because of this amazing performance, Tatsunosuke was considered by the Kabuki historians as the first pioneer in the creation of hengemono.

1st lunar month of 1698: Tatsunosuke's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual].

7th lunar month of 1698: Tatsunosuke played in Kyôtô at Miyako Mandayû's theater the role of Otake in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Isshin Niga Byakudô".

1st lunar month of 1704: Tatsunosuke went to Ôsaka and appeared on stage for the last time, playing the role of Oishi in the drama "Sangoku Yome Iro Naoshi", which was produced by Iwai Hanshirô II. He retired and took the name of Yamatoya Uzaemon, which he kept up to his death.

23rd day of the 9th lunar month of 1745 ^[2]: Uzaemon died.

Comments:

Mizuki Tatsunosuke I was a great onnagata actor of the Genroku era and an outstanding dancer. He excelled in both yari odori and hengemono. He belonged to a group of four actors nicknamed "wakaonnagata no shitennô", literally "the big four wakaonnagata" (this expression comes from the four Deva kings in Buddhism). The three others were Ogino Sawanojô, Sodesaki Karyû and Yoshizawa Ayame I. He founded the Mizuki school of dance, which still exists nowadays.

"Contemporary with Ayame was Mizuki Tatsunosuke, a precocious actor who played with Sakata Tôjûrô when he was 16. He died at the age of 73, and the onnagata school he established endured long after his death, several of his pupils distinguishing themselves." (Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan")

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

[2] The 23rd day of the 9th lunar month of the 2nd year of the Enkyô era was the 18th of October 1745 in the western calendar.

Mizuki Tatsunosuke I as depicted in an illustration from the book "Amayo no Sanbai Kigen" (1693)

Prints & Illustrations

The Mizuki Tatsunosuke line of actors