Stage names:

Arashi San'emon I
Maruko San'emon

Real name: Nishizaki San'emon

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Existence: 1635 ~ 18th day of the 10th lunar month of 1690 ^[1]

Connection:

Brother: Arashi Kan'emon I

Son: Arashi San'emon II

Grandson: Arashi San'emon III

Disciple: Takeshima Kôzaemon II

Career:

1635 ~ 1670: born in Nishinomiya in the Settsu province. His father Nishizaki Shinpei, a rônin who settled in Edo to run a fishmonger business, gave him the name of Nishizaki San'emon. The young man, not really interested in his father business, became actor, performing under the name of Maruko San'emon in Edo. After a few years in Edo, he moved back to the Kamigata area.

1671: Maruko San'emon achieved fame for himself by performing in the drama "Keisei Sayo Arashi", in which he used for the first time in the Kabuki history the roppô technique, a revolution in the acting of tachiyaku actors. One of San'emon great lines in this play, which started with the words "Hana no Arashi" ("a tempest of flowers"), was so famous that he decided to change his name to Arashi San'emon.

1675 ~ 1676: San'emon became zamoto in Kyôto.

11th lunar month of 1677: San'emon achieved a great success in Kyôto at the Shijô Kitagawa no Shibai, playing the role of Kagonuke no Yatsushi in the drama "Tanba Yosaku Tazuma Obi".

Spring 1678: San'emon played the role of Kokuraya Genbe in the drama "Yoshino Miuke", which was staged in the same theater. His partner in the role of the courtesan Yoshinodayû was Itô Kodayû II.

1680: his son makes his first appearance on stage as a wakaonnagata actor, performing under the name of Arashi Monzaburô I.

11th lunar month of 1681 ~ 10th lunar month of 1682: San'emon and Araki Yojibê I produced several plays together in Kyôto.

11th lunar month of 1682 ~ 10th lunar month of 1683: San'emon and Suzuki Heizaemon I produced several plays together in Ôsaka. They were the first zamoto in Kabuki history to produce a play narrating a couple of lovers double suicide (shinjûmono), based on a real incident that happened in Ôsaka.

11th lunar month of 1686 ~ 10th lunar month of 1687: his son Arashi Monzaburô I became zamoto and produced several dramas in Ôsaka in which San'emon played the leading roles.

1st lunar month of 1687: San'emon's rank in "Yarô Tachiyaku Butai Ôkagami" was jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual]. He shared this ranking with Itô Kodayû II.

1690: San'emon fell seriously ill and was replaced on stage by his son Arashi Monzaburô I.

Comments:

Arashi San'emon was the founder of three great lines of actors which blossomed out and declined for two centuries: the Yoshidaya guild (the Arashi San'emon and Arashi Hinasuke lines of actors) and the Kyôya guild (the Arashi Sangorô line of actors).

This actor was a precursor whose innovations like the roppô technique or the shinjûmono plays had a beneficial effect on the development of Kabuki: "He greatly improved plays, wore magnificent garments, and acted to the accompaniment of flute, drum, and shamisen. His plays served Chikamatsu Monzaemon as originals when that dramatist wrote two of his best-known doll-dramas." (Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan")

[1] The 18th day of the 10th lunar month of the 3rd year of the Genroku era was the 18th of November 1690 in the western calendar.

Arashi San'emon I (left), in the company of Itô Kodayû II (right), as depicted in the illustrated book "Yarô Tachiyaku Butai Ôkagami"

Prints & Illustrations

The Arashi San'emon line of actors