Pen names:

Nakamura Seigorô II
Nakamura Gennosuke

Line number: NIDAIME (II)

Poetry name: Jakushi ^[1]

Existence: 1679 ~ 18th day of the 9th lunar month of 1717 ^[2]

Connection:

Masters: Nakamura Denshichi, Nakamura Akashi Seizaburô

Brother-in-law: Ikushima Shingorô

Career:

Before 1707: he made his apprenticeship in Edo with Nakamura Akashi Seizaburô to become an actor. He quickly switched to sakusha when he became a disciple of Nakamura Denshichi, who gave him the name of Nakamura Gennosuke.

24th day of the 1st lunar month of 1707 ^[4]: the sakusha Nakamura Seigorô I died.

3rd lunar month of 1707: he took the name of Nakamura Seigorô II and worked at the Nakamuraza on the drama "Onna Mikado Aigo no Waka".

3rd lunar month of 1708: Seigorô worked at the Nakamuraza on the drama "Chûjô-hime Kyô Hiina".

1st lunar month of 1710: Seigorô worked at the Moritaza on the new year sogamono drama "Kaishun Soga" ^[3].

11th lunar month of 1710: Seigorô worked at the Moritaza on the kaomise drama "Onna Tsuwamono Tokiwa no Matsu".

1st lunar month of 1711: Seigorô worked at the Moritaza on the new year drama "Keisei Saka Omodaka" ^[5].

1st lunar month of 1713: Seigorô worked at the Yamamuraza on the kaomise drama "Ishiyama Genta Kimon Yaburi" ^[6].

11th lunar month of 1713: Seigorô worked at the Yamamuraza on the kaomise drama "Sazare Ishi Nasu no Futahashira" ^[7].

1st lunar month of 1714: Seigorô worked in the same theater on the new year drama "Yometori Kagami Usuyuki Zakura" ^[7].

2nd lunar month of 1714: the love affair, which involves Ejima, a court lady who served the mother of the Shôgun, and Ikushima Shingorô, was discovered in the backstage of the Yamamuraza. This incident, which broke the boundaries between samurai and commoner, was a serious crime for the authorities, which decided to deal ruthlessly with the culprits: Ejima and Ikushima Shingorô were exiled to different places, those in the Shôgun's household who were held responsible were executed, the Yamamuraza was definitively closed and its management was heavily fined [more details]. Seigorô stopped working in the theater world.

18th day of the 9th lunar month of 1717 ^[2]: Seigorô died in Edo.

Comments:

Nakamura Seigorô II was an Edo sakusha who made a short career as he was active from the second half of the 1700s to the first half of the 1710s. He was heavily impacted by the 1714 Ejima-Ikushima affair.

[1] Others possible readings could be Jakusu, Shakushi, Shakusu or Suzumenoko.

[2] The 18th day of the 9th lunar month of the 2nd year of the Kyôhô era was the 22nd of October 1717 in the western calendar.

[3] The others sakusha were Mitsushima Shichirôzaemon and Hirata Shôemon.

[4] The 24th day of the 1st lunar month of the 4th year of the Hôei era was the 26th of February 1707 in the western calendar.

[5] The other sakusha was Mitsushima Shichirôzaemon.

[6] Literally 'Ishiyama Genta Tearing Down the Demons Gate'.

[7] The other sakusha was Tsuuchi Han'emon.

The name of Nakamura Seigorô II in the last page of the eiri kyôgenbon for the new year sogamono drama "Kaishun Soga" (1710)

The Nakamura Seigorô line of actors and playwrights