Playwright names:

Chikamatsu Tokuzô
Chikamatsu Tokusô
Chikamatsu Tokuzô

Other name: Ômasuya Tokuemon

Guild: Ômasuya

Poetry name: Garyô

Existence: 1751 ~ 23rd day of the 8th lunar month of 1810 ^[1]

Connection:

Master: Chikamatsu Hanji

Son: Kanazawa Issen

Disciples: Chikamatsu Monkyô, Chikamatsu Yôsuke, Chikamatsu Tokuji, Chikamatsu Jisuke, Chikamatsu Kazô, Chikamatsu Manbê, Chikamatsu Tokubei, Sawaarashi Tôrô

Career:

1751~1780s: born in Kamigata; fan of the ningyô jôruri puppet theater since his childhood, he became disciple of Chikamatsu Hanji and received the name Chikamatsu Tokuzô at unknown times.

4th day of the 2nd lunar month of 1783 ^[2]: his master Chikamatsu Hanji suddenly died in Ôsaka while working on the drama "Igagoe Dôchû Sugoroku".

1784: he took the name of Chikamatsu Tokusô.

11th lunar month of 1787: Tokusô became tatesakusha in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai, where he wrote the kaomise drama "Masaru Medetaki Toshi no Kaomise", which was produced by Nakayama Fukuzô; the main actors were Onoe Shinshichi I, Asao Tamejûrô I, Yoshizawa Iroha I, Kagaya Kashichi I, Nakamura Jiroza II, Yamamura Tomoemon I, Hanagiri Tomimatsu I, Nakamura Tomosaburô, Nakamura Kyôjûrô II, Arashi Bungorô I, Nakamura Kumenosuke and Onoe Tamizô I.

7th lunar month of 1789: premiere at the Kado no Shibai of Namiki Gohei I and Tokusô drama "Kanjin Kanmon Tekuda no Hajimari" [more details].

1st lunar month of 1793: premiere at the Naka no Shibai of the ni-no-kawari drama "Keisei Yanagi Zakura", the first yanagisawa-sôdômono in Kabuki history, written by Tatsuoka Mansaku and Tokusô [more details].

1st lunar month ~ 3rd lunar month of 1794: premiere of Tatsuoka Mansaku's drama "Keisei Haru no Tori", which was famous for its "Umagiri" scene and was produced by the zamoto Asao Okujirô I in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai [more details]. Tokusô and Nagawa Shimesuke I work with Tatsuoka Mansaku on this drama.

11th lunar month of 1794: Tokusô worked in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai, along with Tatsuoka Mansaku and Morita Monkyô, on the kaomise drama "Tatematsuru Chibako no Tamamono".

7th lunar month of 1795: premiere of Tokusô's play "Sarumawashi Kadode no Hitofushi" in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai.

11th lunar month of 1795: he took the name of Chikamatsu Tokuzô and wrote, along with Tatsuoka Mansaku and Namiki Shôzô II, the kaomise drama "Ichiban Yari Tôkai Suzuri", which was produced by Fujikawa Hachizô III (who celebrated his shûmei) at the Kado no Shibai; others main actors were Nakayama Bunshichi II, Sawamura Kunitarô I, Arashi Hinasuke II, Arashi Koroku III, Nakayama Bungorô I, Yoshizawa Iroha I, Mimasu Matsugorô I, Yamamura Giemon II, Yamamura Tomoemon I and Asao Sennosuke.

4th lunar month of 1796: premiere at the Kado no Shibai of the drama "Hade Kurabe Ishikawa-zome", written by Tokuzô, Tatsuoka Mansaku and Namiki Shôzô II [more details].

7th lunar month of 1796: premiere of Tokuzô's play "Ise Ondo Koi no Netaba" in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai [casting].

11th lunar month of 1797: Tokuzô wrote the kaomise drama "Mote Hayasu Manryô no Tachibana", which was produced by Nakayama Yosaburô II at the Kado no Shibai.

11th lunar month of 1804: Tokuzô worked, along with Namiki Miyosuke and Nagawa Kunisuke ^[3], in Kyôto at the Kitagawa no Shibai on the kaomise drama "Ichiyô Ôgi no Kachidoki".

1st lunar month of 1805: Tokuzô worked in the same theater, with the same team of sakusha, on the new year ni-no-kawari drama "Keisei Miyako Yoshino" and the dance-drama "Matsu no Suma-goto".

11th lunar month of 1805: Tokuzô worked, along with Ichioka Washichi I and Nagawa Kunisuke ^[4], at the Kitagawa no Shibai on the kaomise drama "Shinshû Kawanakajima Kassen".

11th lunar month of 1809: Tokuzô wrote the kaomise drama "Keishoku Yuki-miru Yama", which was produced at the Kado no Shibai by Mimasu Kumesaburô and starred Nakayama Hyakka, Yoshizawa Ayame V, Arashi Kichisaburô II, Asao Kuzaemon I, Nakayama Shinkurô III, Nakamura Daikichi I, Kanô Minshi I and Asao Okuyama III.

1st lunar month of 1810: premiere at the Kado no Shibai of Tokuzô and Namiki Miyosuke ni-no-kawari drama "Keisei Sato no Funauta" [casting].

23rd day of the 8th lunar month of 1810 ^[1]: Tokuzô died in Ôsaka.

Comments:

Chikamatsu Tokuzô was an important Kamigata playwright, who fathered more than 80 dramas. He excelled in writing sewamono and oiemono dramas. When Namiki Gohei I left Ôsaka to settle in Edo in Fall 1794, the two leading playwrights in Kamigata were Chikamatsu Tokuzô and Tatsuoka Mansaku. The former one excelled in writing sewamono while the latter one was the jidaimono expert. Around 1804~1806, Chikamatsu Tokuzô wrote a script, which was entitled "Asagao Nikki", the plot of which was suggested to him by a poem on the morning-glory and a folklore story.

"After working in the puppet theater, Tokuzô eventually became a playwright for the Kabuki theater, where he pioneered innovative ways of bringing contemporary news and events to the stage, as well as modernizing old plays and adapting yomihon ("books for reading," a fiction genre flourishing in Kamigata, featuring lengthy stories filled with romance and heroic figures, plus a dash of didacticism)"
(OsakaPrints.com)

[1] The 23rd day of the 8th lunar month of the 7th year of the Bunka era was the 21st of September 1810 in the western calendar.

[2] The 4th day of the 2nd lunar month of the 3rd year of the Tenmei era was the 6th of March 1783 in the western calendar.

[3] The others sakusha were Tanabe Yashichi, Chikamatsu Yôsuke, Chikamatsu Tokuji and Chikamatsu Tokubei.

[4] The others sakusha were Tanabe Yashichi, Ichioka Rihei

The name of Chikamatsu Tokuzô in a 1805 Kyôto hyôbanki (the name within the red box)