Stage names:

Karyû Sawaemon
Sodesaki Karyû
Sodesaki Karyû
Sodesaki Karyû
Sodesaki Karyû

Other name:

Karyû Jiemon

Existence: ??? ~ 1730

Connections:

Brother: Sodesaki Iroha I

Disciples: Sodesaki Miwano I, Sodesaki Iseno I, Sodesaki Wakaura I (Wakaura Kinjûrô)

Family map: the Sodesaki Clan

Career:

??? ~ 1692: he starts his career in Ôsaka, performing under the name of Sodesaki Karyû. He changes the writing of his first name at an unknown date:

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1692: Karyû settles in Kyôto.

11th lunar month of 1693: Karyû plays in Tominaga Heibê's drama "Budô no Tassha", which is produced by Osagawa Jûemon for the nadai Miyako Mandayû.

Winter 1695 ~ 1696: Karyû goes to Edo.

11th lunar month of 1698: Karyû plays at the a Yamamuraza in the kaomise drama "Genji Daikoku Bashira".

1st lunar month of 1699: Karyû's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual].

10th lunar month of 1699: Karyû his onagori kyôgen in Edo at the Moritaza, playing the leading role of the drama "Kaeribana Onna Budô".

Fall 1699: Karyû goes back to Ôsaka.

1st lunar month of 1700: Karyû plays the role of Teruhi-no-Mae in the drama "Onna Chôteki Sangoku Denraiki", which is produced at the Kita-Horie Ichi-no-Gawa Shibai (Ôsaka) by Araki Yojibê I.

3rd lunar month of 1700: Karyû's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual].

1st lunar month of 1702: Karyû plays in the new year drama "Heishin'ô Masakado", which is produced by Kataoka Nizaemon I in Shioya Kurôemon's theater.

11th lunar month of 1703: Karyû goes to Kyôto and plays in the kaomise drama "Watamashi Mannengura", which is produced by Takashima Onoe at Kameya Kumenojô's theater.

11th lunar month of 1704: Karyû plays at Miyako Mandayû's theater the role of Ono no Koharu in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's kaomise drama "Kisshô Tennyo Anzan no Tama".

11th lunar month of 1713: Karyû plays in Ôsaka the role of Otome in the kaomise drama "Yoyo Meoto Tsuru no Mago", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1713 at Shioya Kuroemon's theater.

11th lunar month of 1714: Karyû plays the roles of Okaji and Mochizuki Kurozaemon's wife in the kaomise drama "Yonedawara Mangoku no Minato", which is produced by Shinozuka Shômatsu II for the nadai Ôsaka Tazaemon; the role of Mochizuki Kurozaemon is played by Osagawa Jûemon.

11th lunar month of 1718: he decides to become tachiyaku and takes the name of Karyû Sawaemon; he plays in Kyôto at Hayagumo Chôdayû's theater the roles of Kikuchi Bunzô and the hinin Chûbê in the kaomise drama "Chôseiden Kogane no Ishizue", which is produced by Sakakiyama Shirotarô I.

1st lunar month of 1719: Sawaemon's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1719: Sawaemon played the role of Nanaura Satoemon in the kaomise drama "Chiyo no Ume Naniwa Kagami", which was produced in Kyôto by Sakakiyama Shirojûrô.

11th lunar month of 1722: Sawaemon played at the Naka no Shibai the role of Kokonoe Mansuke (in reality Takamatsu Chikaranosuke) in the kaomise drama "Odori Hotei", which was produced by Takeshima Kôzaemon II.

11th lunar month of 1726: Sawaemon plays at Kameya Kumenojô's theater (Kyôto) in the kaomise drama "Karanishiki Imose no Shitone".

1st lunar month of 1727: Sawaemon's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-jô-(hanshiro)kichi (superior - superior - (half-white) excellent) [visual].

Winter 1727 ~ 1728: he definitively retires, taking the name of Karyû Jiemon and opening an incense shop in Edo in the district of Nihonbashi.

Comments:

Karyû Sawaemon was a talented onnagata actor, endowed with a beautiful face, who achieved fame for himself in the three major cities (Edo, Kyôto and Ôsaka) from the Genroku era to the middle of the Kyôhô era. "His talent was versatile, and he could act the greatest variety of women, from a princess to the wife of a coolie". He was at his best in budôgoto female roles. 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 Mizuki Tatsunosuke I, Ogino Sawanojô and Yoshizawa Ayame I. He decided to switch to tachiyaku roles when he was at the peak of his career as an onnagata: "his audiences took kindly to the change, and he did not lose his stage reputation in consequence". As a tachiyaku, jitsugotoshi roles were his forte.

(*) The 2 sentences within double quotes are from Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan"

Karyû Sawaemon (left), Tamagawa Sennojô IV (center) and Fujikawa Buzaemon I (right) playing the roles of the karô Nanaura Satoemon, the kôshitsu Hiyoshi and Kagamiyama Kageyu in the kaomise drama "Chiyo no Ume Naniwa Kagami", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1719 in Kyôto

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