Stage names:
Nakamura Gentarô
Iwai Gentarô
Existence: ???
Connection:
Masters: Nakamura Shichisaburô I, Iwai Hanshirô I
Brother: Nakamura Gennosuke
Disciple: Nakamura Takesaburô I
Career:
???: he starts his career at an early age, becoming a disciple of Iwai Hanshirô I and performing wakashugata roles under the name of Iwai Gentarô.
Fall 1702: Gentarô goes to Edo.
November 1702: he becomes disciple of Nakamura Shichisaburô I and wakaonnagata, takes the name of Nakamura Gentarô and plays at the Ichimuraza the role of Takiguchi's wife in the drama "Yorimasa Hôraizan"; the role of Takiguchi is played by Ikushima Shingorô.
March 1707: Gentarô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô (superior).
November 1707: Gentarô plays at the Yamamuraza the role of Murasame in the kaomise drama "Yukihira Obana Gitsune"; his stage partners in the roles of Murasame's lover Ariwara no Yukihira and Murasame's sister Matsukaze (also in love with Yukihira) are Ikushima Shingorô and Tsutsui Kichijûrô.
January 1708: Gentarô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô-jô (superior - superior).
November 1708: Gentarô plays at the Yamamuraza the role of Ayame in the kaomise drama "Yorimasa Shiki Samba".
March 1709: Gentarô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent).
July 1709: Gentarô plays in the same theater the role of Princess Chûjô in the drama "Keisei Hibari Yama"; his stage partners are Ichikawa Danjûrô II, Yamanaka Heikurô I, Ikushima Shingorô, Ogawa Zengorô I and Nakamura Gentarô, who plays the role of Princess Chûjô.
November 1709: Gentarô plays at the Yamamuraza the role of Princess Shinobu in the kaomise drama "Taihei Okuni Kabuki", which celebrates the arrival in Edo of the Kamigata actors Asao Jûjirô, Arashi Sanjûrô I and Fujikawa Buzaemon I.
November 1710: Gentarô moves to the Ichimuraza and plays the role of Shiratae in the kaomise drama "Shusse Taiheiki", which celebrates the shûmei of Takii Hanshirô.
March 1711: Gentarô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent).
November 1711: Gentarô plays at the Ichimuraza the role of Nowaki in the kaomise drama "Shusse Taiheiki" [more details].
Fall 1714: Gentarô goes back to Kamigata.
November 1714: Gentarô plays the role of the courtesan Takao in the drama "Bandai-ga-Ike no Tsurukame", which is produced by Arashi Sanjûrô I at the nadai Shioya Kuroemon's theater. He achieves a great success at the end of the program by performing in solo in a dôjôjimono.
January 1715: Gentarô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent).
February 1716: Gentarô becomes zamoto and coproduces with Sugiyama Heihachi the drama "Chôja Mannengura" in Ôsaka at the nadai Matsumoto Nazaemon's theater.
24 April 1716: his brother Nakamura Gennosuke dies.
Fall 1716: Gentarô goes to Edo.
November 1716: Gentarô plays at the Nakamuraza the role of Tomoe Gozen in the kaomise drama "Mitsudomoe Katoku Biraki". He falls ill and is replaced by Nakamura Sen'ya I.
November 1727: Gentarô makes a stage comeback in Edo at the Ichimuraza, playing the role of Takasaka Danjô's daughter Takane in the drama "Goshozome Kôyô Gunki". He is sick but he forces himself to perform. He most likely dies soon afterwards but there is no record on the day of his death.
Comments:
Nakamura Gentarô was born in Kamigata but settled in Edo while still a child. He became a talented wakaonnagata actor and an outstanding dancer, whose career spanned from the end of the Genroku era to the first year of the Kyôhô era. He excelled in keisei, nuregoto and budôgoto roles. He was treated by the Edo audience as one of their own and they refused to recognize any hint of Kamigata in his style. He was "Genta-sama, the favourite of Edo" in the hyôbanki "Yakusha Tomoginmi" ("Friendly investigations in actors" published in 1707). "There is no one who can play Edo fûryû musume roles like him" (from "Yakusha Hako Denju", alias "the Treasure chest of secret arts", 1712). He was also the owner of a cosmetic shop in Edo in the district of Kanda Suda-chô.
Nakamura Gentarô in a print made by Torii Kiyomasu I around 1705