Playwright names:

Mayama Seika

Real Name: Mayama Akira

Existence: 1 September 1878 ~ 25 March 1948

Career:

1st of September 1878: born in Sendai.

November 1926: premiere at the Kabukiza of the first part of "Edo-jô Sôzeme" ("Attack on Edo Castle").

April 1932: premiere at the Kabukiza of Mayama Seika's "Yoritomo no Shi" [casting].

November 1933: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of the second part of "Edo-jô Sôzeme", which is entitled "Yoshinobu Inochigoi" ('Plea for Yoshinobu's Life').

January 1934: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of the third (and final) part of "Edo-jô Sôzeme", which is entitled "Shôgun Edo o Saru" ('The Shôgun Leaves Edo').

February 1934: premiere at the Kabukiza of "Ôishi Saigo no Ichinichi", the tenth and last play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura" [casting].

March 1934: "Ôishi Saigo no Ichinichi", the tenth and last play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura" is staged for the first time in Ôsaka, at the Naniwaza from the 3rd to 16th of March [casting], and in Kyôto, at the Minamiza from the 17th to the 27th of March [casting].

January 1935: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of "Edo-jô no Ninjô" and "Daini no Shisha", the first and second plays of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura".

April 1935: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of "Saigo no Daihyôjô", the third play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura" [casting].

April 1938: premiere at the Meijiza of "Kira Yashiki Uramon" and the first act of "Sengoku Yashiki", the seventh and ninth plays of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura".

May 1938: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of Mayama Seika's drama "Katsu Awa no Chichi" [more details].

November 1938: premiere at the Kabukiza of "Nanbuzaka no Yuki Wakare", the sixth play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura" [casting].

February 1939: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of the second act of "Sengoku Yashiki", the ninth play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura".

April 1939: premiere at the Kabukiza of "Fushimi Shumokumachi", the fourth play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura" [casting].

January 1940: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of "Ohama Goten Tsunatoyo-kyô", the fifth play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura" [casting].

November 1941: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of "Sengakuji", the eighth play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura".

1st of December 1941: release in Japan of the first part of Mizoguchi Kenji's movie "Genroku Chûshingura", which is based on Mayama Seika's drama. 5 Kabuki actors in the casting: Nakamura Kan'emon III, Kawarasaki Chôjûrô IV, Arashi Yoshisaburô V, Kawarasaki Kunitarô V and Arashi Tokusaburô VI.

11th of February 1942: release in Japan of the second part of Mizoguchi Kenji's movie "Genroku Chûshingura", which is based on Mayama Seika's drama.

25th of March 1948: Mayama Seika dies of a sudden heart attack in Numazu.

Comments:

Mayama Seika was a prolific novelist and playwright, who created several important Shinpa or Shinkabuki dramas. His masterpiece is the 10-part drama "Genroku Chûshingura", a modern interpretation of Akô Rôshi, one of the most famous vendettas in Japan history, which was written and staged between 1934 and 1940. Mayama Seika treated the themes of his historical dramas in a realistic, somber and dramatic style.

The poster of Mayama Seika's drama "Genroku Chûshingura", which was staged in December 1970 at the National Theatre