Stage name:

Sanogawa Senzô

Others names:

Fujita Kichiji I	|
Fujita Kichiji	|
Miyako Wachû II

Guild: Fushimiya

Poetry name: Fûkô

Existence: 1714 ~ 29th day of the 3rd lunar month of 1771 ^[1]

Connection:

Master: Sanogawa Mangiku (Sanogawa Jûkichi I)

Son: Fujita Senzô I

Disciple: Fujita Otozô I

Career:

1714 ~ 1723: born in Edo. He was related to the chaya Fushimiya in the district of Norimono-chô. He became a disciple of Sanogawa Mangiku and received the name of Sanogawa Senzô. He went to Kamigata with his master in Fall 1720.

Fall 1723: Senzô went back to Edo with Yamashita Kinsaku I.

11th lunar month of 1723: Senzô performed as an iroko at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Sono Enpô Onna Migyôsho".

1738: Senzô became wakashugata.

11th lunar month of 1741: Senzô became wakaonnagata and performed at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Sugatae Onna Narihira", which celebrated the return in Edo of Ôtani Hiroji I and Segawa Kikunojô I.

11th lunar month of 1744: Senzô performed at the Moritaza, which was closed since Spring 1734, in the kaomise drama "Higashiyama Bandai no Watamashi"; his stage partners were Matsumoto Kôshirô II, Tomizawa Tatsujûrô, Utagawa Shirogorô, Sakata Tôjûrô III, Tsuruya Nanboku II, Nakajima Kanzaemon II and Yamamoto Kyôzô.

11th lunar month of 1746: Senzô performed at the Moritaza in the kaomise drama "Ôtorii Gojûshigun", which celebrated the arrival of Onoe Kikugorô I in Edo.

1st lunar month of 1747: Senzô played in the same theater the role of Kichisaburô in the new year drama "Edo Murasaki Kongen Soga" [picture]; the roles of Yaoya Oshichi and Dozaemon Denkichi were played by Yamamoto Kyôzô and Matsumoto Kôshirô II.

19th day of the 7th lunar month of 1747 ^[2]: his master Sanogawa Jûkichi I died.

11th lunar month of 1750: Senzô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Princess Goô in Tsuuchi Jihê II's kaomise drama "Wakaki no Ume Taira no Kiyomori".

3rd lunar month of 1751: Senzô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-hankichi (superior - superior - half excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1751: Senzô performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Honryô Hachinoki-zome", which welcomed in Edo the Kamigata actors Fujikawa Heikurô and Sanogawa Hanazuma II ^[3].

1st lunar month of 1752: Senzô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-jû (superior - superior - "ten") [visual].

11th lunar month of 1752: Senzô performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Akazawayama Sumô Nikki".

11th lunar month of 1753: Senzô played at the Nakamuraza the role of Yashichi's gejo Oyuki in the kaomise drama "Hyakumanki Tsuwamono Taiheiki", which celebrated the shûmei of Ichikawa Masuzô I.

1757: Senzô stopped acting and focused on music, taking the name of Miyako Wachû II and singing with an ensemble of the Icchû Bushi school of music.

11th lunar month of 1759: he became a Nagauta utakata and took the name of Fujita Kichiji; he performed as a musician at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Okunizome Shusse Butai".

1st lunar month of 1762: he took the name of Fujita Kichiji I (different ideograms for Fuji in Fujita).

29th day of the 3rd lunar month of 1771 ^[1]: Senzô died in Edo.

Comments:

Sanogawa Senzô was active in Edo as an onnagata actor from the first half of the 1720s to the second half of the 1750s. He was a great utakata in Edo and the founder of the Fujita clan with three important lines of Nagauta musicians: the Fujita Kichiji line (4 generations), the Fujita Senzô line (11 generations) and the Fujita Otozô line (6 generations). He was also an outstanding shamisen and koto player.

[1] The 29th day of the 3rd lunar month of the 8th year of the Meiwa era was the 13th of May 1771 in the western calendar.

[2] The 19th day of the 7th lunar month of the 4th year of the Enkyô era was the 24th of August 1747 in the western calendar.

[3] Three actors related to late Sanogawa Mangiku performed in this kaomise program: Sanogawa Ichimatsu I, Sanogawa Hanazuma II and Sanogawa Senzô.

Matsumoto Kôshirô II, Tsuuchi Monzaburô I and Sanogawa Senzô playing the roles of Hiyazake no Gonku, Osaragi Gonzô and Princess Goô in Tsuuchi Jihê II's kaomise drama "Wakaki no Ume Taira no Kiyomori", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1750 at the Nakamuraza