Stage name:

Kokon Shinzaemon

Existence: 1637 ~ 1722 (?)

Connection:

Disciple: Kokon Uheiji

Career:

1670s: he started his career in Edo, performing under the name of Kokon Shinzaemon as a wakashugata.

8th lunar month of 1687: Shinzaemon, along with Bandô Matatarô I, Takimoto Kinnosuke, Takimoto Kingo, Akashi Sennosuke, Murayama Manzaburô, Hanamura Kinue, Yamazaki Kodayû, Katayama Shinzô, Sakurai Kaheiji and others, was invited to perform at the Edo mansion of the daimyô Matsudaira Yamato-no-Kami (the kami of the Yamato province).

1691: Shinzaemon played in Kyôto the role of Iga no Heinai Saemon in the drama "Ichi-no-Tani Sakaotoshi", which was produced by Yamatoya Jinbê II.

2nd lunar month of 1695: Shinzaemon was recorded in the hyôbanki "Yakusha Ôkagami", tachiyaku section. His rank was naka-no-jô (superior in the middle class).

1696: Shinzaemon played in Kyôto the role of the servant Sansuke in the drama "Daizassho Ise no Oshiroi".

1697: Shinzaemon performed as a tachiyaku in Ôsaka at Ôsaka Tazaemon's theater, with the troupe led by Araki Yojibê I; his stage partners were Mihara Jûdayû I, Kanazawa Goheiji I, Katsuyama Ôhashi, Kamogawa Noshio I, Fujii Hachijûrô, Takashima Onoe, Dekishima Kosaburô, Yamamoto Kantarô I, Iwakura Man'emon, Iwamatsu Kizaemon and Takeshima Shichisaburô.

1st lunar month of 1702: premiere in Kyôto at Miyako Mandayû's theater of Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Keisei Mibu Dainenbutsu", which was produced by Shinzaemon; he played the role of Tokuemon.

1st lunar month of 1706: Shinzaemon played in Kyôto at Kameya's theater the role of the sendô Funagi Gengorô in the new year drama "Keisei Nezamegaseki".

11th lunar month of 1718: Shinzaemon worked as a zamoto in Ôsaka at the Kita no Shinchi Shibai, producing the kaomise drama "In'yô Inui no Machi-zukuri", in which he played the role of Tokubê.

11th lunar month of 1721: Shinzaemon performed as an oyajigata in Kyôto at Hoteiya Umenojô's theater in the kaomise drama "Banshiki Kogane no Miyako", which was produced by Ogino Yaegiri I.

1st lunar month of 1722: Shinzaemon's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, oyajigata section, was jô (superior) [visual]. No record afterwards.

Comments:

Kokon Shinzaemon made a long career, started in Edo during the 1670s and continued in Kamigata from the beginning of the 1690s to the beginning of the 1720s. He was a tachiyaku actor, occasionally a zamoto and an oyajigata in his latter years. He most likely died in 1722. His most original feature was his stage name, Kokon, which was not a classic family name like Nakamura or Ichikawa, but a word meaning "Past and Present".

Kokon Shinzaemon