Stage names:

Anegawa Shinshirô IV
Anegawa Nakazô
Asao Kuzaemon III
Anegawa Nakazô
Asao Nakazô II
Asao Onikichi

Other name:

Ichikawa Kigan III

Guild: Sakaiya

Line number: YODAIME (IV)

Poetry names: Shôen, Kigan

Existence: 1809 ~ 19th day of the 4th lunar month of 1853 ^[1]

Connection:

Master: Asao Gakujûrô

Brother: Nakamura Daikichi III (?) or Nakamura Hajô (?) ^[2]

Disciple: Anegawa Kikuzô

Career:

1809: born in Edo.

1810s: he started his career as a disciple of Asao Yûjirô I; his first stage name was Asao Onikichi.

1818: he went to Kamigata with his master.

1832: he took the name of Asao Nakazô II.

7th lunar month of 1835 ^[3]: he joined the Anegawa clan and received the name of Anegawa Nakazô.

4th day of the 11th lunar month of 1835: his master Jitsukawa Gakujûrô I died.

1st lunar month of 1847: he took the name of Asao Kuzaemon III ^[4].

6th lunar month of 1847: he took back the name of Anegawa Nakazô.

11th lunar month of 1847 ^[5]: Anegawa Nakazô took the name of Anegawa Shinshirô IV in Ôsaka.

11th lunar month of 1849: Shinshirô played at the Kitagawa no Shibai the role of Yakushiji Jirozaemon in the classic "Kanadehon Chûshingura". He also played the roles of Dankurô and Akizuki Daizen in "Shin Usuyuki Monogatari".

1st lunar month of 1852: Shinshirô played at the Chikugo no Shibai the roles of Tobahei and Gamamaru in the new year drama "Keisei Iriai Zakura".

2nd lunar month of 1852: Shinshirô played in the same theater the role of Kamezasa in the drama "Hana no Ani Tsubomi no Yatsufusa". He also played the role of Gokuin Jûemon in the drama "Otokodate Itsutsu Karigane".

8th lunar month of 1852: Shinshirô played in the same theater the roles of the thief Iwamaru and Banzô in the drama "Tôtômigata Koi no Shiranami". He also played the role of Tarôbê in the drama "Akanezome Nonaka no Kakure Ido".

1st lunar month of 1853: Shinshirô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, katakiyaku/jitsuaku section, was jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual]. He shared the same rank with Arashi Kanjûrô I and Nakamura Jakuemon I.

19th day of the 4th lunar month of 1853 ^[1]: Shinshirô died in Ôsaka; his tombstone was located in the precincts of the Myôkôji temple in the temple district of Tanimachi.

Comments:

Anegawa Shinshirô IV was born in Edo but made his career in Kamigata, performing in hama shibai and in ôshibai in his latter years. He was katakiyaku and a jitsuaku actor. He was also an oyajigata in his latter years.

[1] The 19th day of the 4th lunar month of the 6th year of the Kaei era was the 26th of May 1853 in the western calendar.

[2] His brother was Nakamura Daikichi III in Nojima Jusaburô's book "Kabuki Jinmei Jiten". In "Kabuki Haiyû Meiseki Benran", his brother was Nakamura Hajô, a minor actor who was born in 1815 and died in 1847. It was difficult to tell who was the real brother as Nakamura Daikichi III's haimyô was Hajô and therefore he was also sometimes called Nakamura Hajô.

[3] In Nojima Jusaburô's book "Kabuki Jinmei Jiten", it was written that he became a disciple of Anegawa Shinshirô III (without any time indication). We don't think it was a real event as Anegawa Shinshirô III died in 1805, 4 years before the birth of Anegawa Shinshirô IV!

[4] In Nojima Jusaburô's book "Kabuki Jinmei Jiten", he was considered as the third Asao Kuzaemon. In "Kabuki Haiyû Meiseki Benran", he was not considered as the third Kuzaemon. Asao Kuzaemon III was born in 1814 and died in 1869. Disciple of Asao Kuzaemon I, he took the name of Asao Kuzaemon III at unknown times. For this issue, we've decided to stay in line with Nojima Jusaburô's book "Kabuki Jinmei Jiten" (and also the Ritsumeikan University Actors Database).

[5] In "Kabuki Haiyû Meiseki Benran", it was recorded that he took the name of Anegawa Shinshirô IV in the 8th lunar month of 1847 at the Wakadayû no Shibai (hama shibai).

The actors Anegawa Shinshirô IV (left) and Nakayama Bunshichi IV (right) playing the roles of Gokuin Jûemon and An no Heibei in the drama "Otokodate Itsutsu Karigane", which was staged in the 2nd lunar month of 1852 in Ôsaka at the Chikugo no Shibai (print made by Utagawa Hirosada)

Prints & Illustrations

Print made by Utagawa Hirosada in 1852

The Ichikawa Kigan line of actors

The Asao Kuzaemon line of actors

The Anegawa Shinshirô line of actors