Stage names:

Ichikawa Sadanji I	|  |
Sodesaki Kikutarô
Sodeoka Kikutarô

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Poetry name: Shunkô (?)

Existence: ???

Connection:

Masters: Ichikawa Ebizô II, Sodesaki Miwano I, Sodeoka Masanosuke II (?)

Career:

Before 1726: his first name was Sodeoka Kikutarô. Was he a disciple of Sodeoka Masanosuke II?

Fall 1726: he became disciple of Sodesaki Miwano I and received the name of Sodesaki Kikutarô.

11th lunar month of 1726: he made his debut on stage at the Nakamuraza, performing as an onnagata iroko.

11th lunar month of 1736: Kikutarô played at the Kawarasakiza the role of Kôtô-no-Naishi in the kaomise drama "Junpû Taiheiki".

1st lunar month of 1737: Kikutarô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1737: the play "Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki" was staged for the first time in Edo, at the Kawarasakiza, as a kaomise drama entitled "Urûzuki Ninin Kagekiyo"; Kikutarô played the role of Kagekiyo lover's Akoya [casting].

1st lunar month of 1738: Kikutarô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-hankichi (superior - superior - half excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1742: he became disciple of Ichikawa Ebizô II and took the name of Ichikawa Sadanji I at the Kawarasakiza, performing in the kaomise drama "Gaijin Taiheiki", which celebrated the return and the arrival in Edo of his new master and Onoe Kikugorô I.

1st lunar month of 1743: Sadanji's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].

Fall 1744: Sadanji went to Ôsaka, in the company of Ichikawa Danzô III and Tatsuoka Hisagiku.

11th lunar month of 1744: Sadanji played the role of Hakoômaru in the kaomise drama "Azuma Soga Fujimi no Sato", which was produced by Nakamura Jûzô I at the Ônishi no Shibai.

1st lunar month of 1745: Sadanji's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual]. He shared the same rank as Yoshida Manshirô and Yamatogawa Akashi.

11th lunar month of 1745: Sadanji became tachiyaku and played at the Naka no Shibai the role of the otokodate Chôkichi, in reality Kikuô, in the kaomise drama "Onna Musha Ukisu Gassen". This was most likely his last appearance on stage. No record afterwards.

Comments:

Ichikawa Sadanji I was an Edo onnagata, who was active from the middle of the 1720s to the middle of the 1740s. He suddenly became tachiyaku in 1745 but vanished without leaving any trace. As an onnagata, he excelled in keisei roles and nuregoto.

The actors Ichikawa Sadanji I (bottom/left) and Yamashita Matatarô I (top/right) playing the roles of Magosaburô's betrothed Okatsu and Magosaburô in the new year drama "Mukashi Komon Yoshioka-zome", which was staged in the 1st lunar month of 1745 at the Ônishi no Shibai

Prints & Illustrations

Print made by Okumura Toshinobu around 1731

The Ichikawa Sadanji line of actors