The Yagyû clan were masters of the Shinkage school of swordfighting and became fighting masters to the Tokugawa Shogunate. There are a number of legends about the different members of this family. The drama "Nikaigasa Yagyû Jikki", commonly called "Yagyû Matajûrô", was written by Katsu Nôshin in 1885 for the Ôsaka actor Jitsukawa Enjaku I but it was never staged because of the sudden death of the star. Katsu Nôshin's son Katsu Genzô III revised it and it was staged in April 1887 at the Nakaza [casting]. This work was influenced by some kôdan on the Yagyû clan and a play written by the Edo playwright Kawatake Mokuami, "Medeshi Yanagi Midori no Matsumae", which was staged in January 1883 at the Shintomiza [casting]. This drama was staged in Kamigata in 1885, with Ichikawa Udanji I in the role of Yagyû Matajûrô. Katsu Genzô III and Katsu Nôshin were most likely members of the audience.

"Yagyû Matajûrô" is an excellent example of the splashy and melodramatic Ôsaka style of Kabuki. It was a koshibai drama more than an ôshibai one.

Yagyû Matajûrô is the son of the fighting master Yagyû Tajima-no-Kami, but far from being interested in learning the discipline of swordsmanship, is a soft, delicate playboy, attractive to women and impossible to dislike, no matter what trouble he gets into. His father has a young mistress Otama and Matajûrô falls in love with her, forcing his father to disown him. Matajûrô’s hardships on the road, including an encounter with an elderly fighting master eventually make him decide that he must master the art of swordfighting. Finally, Matajûrô gets the opportunity to reinstate himself with his family with a climactic sword match with his father before the Shôgun himself.

Source: Earphone Guide website

The actors Ichikawa Udanji I and Ichikawa Sadanji I playing the roles of Yagyû Matajûrô and Yagyû Tajima-no-Kami in the drama "Medeshi Yanagi Midori no Matsumae", which was staged in January 1883 at the Shintomiza (print made by Morikawa Chikashige)