Stage names:

Yamamura Sôzaemon
Yamamura Kichisaburô
Takayama Kichisaburô
Yamamura Kichisaburô
Yamamura Kanzaburô

Existence: 1665 ~ 8th day of the 8th lunar month of 1719 ^[1]

Connection:

Master: Yamamura Kazaemon (?) ^[2]

Son: Ichikawa Kuzô

Career:

Before 1686: His first stage name was Yamamura Kanzaburô.

11th lunar month of 1686: Kanzaburô performed as a wakaonnagata in Ôsaka at Araki Yojibê I's theater. His yearly salary was 40 ryô; his stage partners were Yamashita Hanzaemon I, Iwai Hanshirô I, Sodeoka Masanosuke II, Sakurayama Rinnosuke I, Sakata Tôkurô, Takenaka Hanzaburô, Matsushima Han'ya II, Kozakura Kodayû, Takigawa Kiyosaburô, Yoshikawa Genzaburô, Mihara Jûdayû I, Wakabayashi Shiroemon and Sadoshima Denpachi.

1690: Kanzaburô performed in Kyôto at Miyako Mandayû's theater as a wakaonnagata in the drama "Kanaoka-ga-Fude".

1692: he took the name of Yamamura Kichisaburô.

1701: he went to Edo.

1st lunar month of 1702: he became kashagata and he took the name of Takayama Kichisaburô at the Yamamuraza.

1st lunar month of 1704: he took back the name of Yamamura Kichisaburô and performed at the Moritaza in the hatsu kyôgen drama "Arajishi Otokonosuke"

1st lunar month of 1705: he took the name of Yamamura Sôzaemon and performed at the Ichimuraza in the new year drama "Hayazaki Sumidagawa".

11th lunar month of 1717: Sôzaemon played at the Nakamuraza the role of Saden's mother in the kaomise drama "Hachinoki Hônen Mitsugimono".

11th lunar month of 1718: Sôzaemon performed at the Moritaza in the kaomise drama "Zenkunen Yoroi Kurabe".

1st lunar month of 1719: Sôzaemon's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, kashagata section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual] in one hyôbanki and jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual] in another hyôbanki.

8th day of the 8th lunar month of 1719 ^[1]: Sôzaemon died in Edo.

Comments:

Yamamura Sôzaemon was born and trained in Kamigata but he definitively settled in Edo where he spent 14 years without going back to Ôsaka or Kyôto. He was a wakaonnagata in his prime and a kashagata for 17 years.

[1] The 8th day of the 8th lunar month of the 4th year of the Kyôhô era was the 21st of September 1719 in the western calendar.

[2] Who was his master? In Nojima Jusaburô's book "Kabuki Jinmei Jiten", it was recorded that he was the disciple of Yamamura Kazaemon but this actor started his career AFTER Sôzaemon.

Nakamura Takesaburô I (left/top), Sengoku Hikosuke I (left/bottom) and Yamamura Sôzaemon (right) playing the roles of Saden, Saden's mother and Tsuneyo in the kaomise drama "Hachinoki Hônen Mitsugimono", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1717 at the Nakamuraza

Prints & Illustrations