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| EIGHT GENERATIONS | |
| Kawarazaki Gonnosuke I | |
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The zamoto Kawarazaki Gonnosuke I held this name from 1648 to July 1690. |
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| Kawarazaki Gonnosuke II | |
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Real son (or adopted son ?) of Kawarazaki Gonnosuke I. He took the name of Kawarazaki Gonnosuke II and became a zamoto in 1691, producing a Kabuki show in the district of Sakai-chô. Most likely, it was his only production and he quickly retired. He died the 4th of August 1738. |
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| Kawarazaki Gonnosuke III | |
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Adopted son of Kawarazaki Gonnosuke II. He took the name of Kawarazaki Gonnosuke III and started his career of zamoto in March 1735, opening the Kawarazakiza, the hikae yagura of the Moritaza, which went bankrupt. His first program was the drama "Isaribune Reigen Irumagawa", starring the actors Sakata Hangorô I, Tsuruya Namboku I, Yamashita Kametarô, Sengoku Hikosuke I, Hayakawa Shinkatsu and Sodesaki Miwano I. In November 1743, Gonnosuke did not have the money to hire stars for the top of the bill of his kaomise and quickly had to close his theater in Spring 1744. He went bankrupt and gave back the license to Morita Kan'ya V, who brought back the Moritaza to business in November 1744. He died the 24th of January 1775. |
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Kawarazaki Gonnosuke III performing in the kaomise drama "Banzei Ikioi Izu Nikki", which was staged in November 1735 at the Kawarazakiza |
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| Kawarazaki Gonnosuke IV | |
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Born in Edo the 7th of January 1735. He was the son of Kawarazaki Gonnosuke III, who gave him the name of Kawarazaki Chôjûrô I. He later took the names of Kawarazaki Kuniji II (unknown date) and Kawarazaki Gonjûrô (November 1742). He took the name of Kawarazaki Gonnosuke IV after the death of his father in January 1775 but had to wait up to 1790 before being able to work as a zamoto. In Spring 1789, Morita Kan'ya VIII went bankrupt, Gonnosuke received the license for Kabuki performances in February 1790 and produced his first kaomise, titled "Daidan Kanjinchô", in November 1790, starring the actors Ichikawa Danjûrô V, Bandô Mitsugorô II, Osagawa Tsuneyo II and Nakamura Sukegorô II. He died in Edo the 4th of January 1796. |
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| Kawarazaki Gonnosuke V | |
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Dates of birth and death unknown. Son of Kawarazaki Gonnosuke IV, who gave him the name of Kawarazaki Chôjûrô II. He suddenly became zamoto in January 1796, when his father retired and died. He produced his first kaomise, titled "Itsukushima Yuki no Kaomise", starring Matsumoto Kôshirô IV, Ichikawa Komazô III, Onoe Matsusuke I and Osagawa Tsuneyo II. He had to give back his license to Morita Kan'ya VIII in Fall 1797. Gonnosuke was back in business in November 1800, producing at the Kawarazakiza the kaomise drama "Modoribashi Tsuna Kaomise", which starred Onoe Matsusuke I, Bandô Hikosaburô III, Arashi Hinasuke II and Iwai Kumesaburô I. He managed his theater up to March 1808 and gave back the license to Morita Kan'ya IX, who went bankrupt in Spring 1815. Gonnosuke reopened his theater in May 1815 and managed it for 2 seasons, up to October 1817. He got back his license in 1819 and had to give it up in 1822. Gonnosuke did not have to wait for a long time before restarting his business because the Moritaza only lasted one season. The Kawarazakiza reopened in October 1823 and Gonnosuke managed it up to Spring 1830. He fell ill and gave both his name and the theater to his adopted son Kawarazaki Gonzaburô I. |
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| Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VI | |
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Born in Edo in 1814 in the district of Honjo Matsukura-chô. His mother remarried with Kawarazaki Gonnosuke V. He was adopted by the Kawarazaki clan and took the name of Kawarazaki Gonzaburô I. He took the name of Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VI and was officially assigned the management of the Kawarazakiza in April 1830 but, because he was too young, others people supervised the theater from behind the scenes. Performances at the Kawarazakiza stopped in May 1833 and the new Gonnosuke gave back the license to Morita Kan'ya X, who brought back the Moritaza to business. The Moritaza went bankrupt in Fall 1837 and Gonnosuke reopened his theater in November 1837, with the drama "Sekai-ha Taira Ume no Kaomise", which starred Onoe Kikugorô III, Ichikawa Ebizô V, Ichikawa Danzô V, Bandô Hikosaburô IV, Ôtani Tomoemon IV and Onoe Kikujirô II. In December 1841, the Kawarazakiza was ordered by the shogunal authorities to move to the remote district of Asakusa Saruwaka-chô. The old theater was closed in December 1842 and the new one opened in May 1843, with the performances of the classics "Kanadehon Chûshingura" and "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami". Gonnosuke managed his theater up to its destruction during the Ansei earthquake (Ansei Daijishin) the 2nd of October 1855. He could not rebuild it and had to give back the license to the Moritaza's new zamoto Morita Kan'ya XI. he started to work on the opening of a new theater from 1867 but was killed by a burglar the 23rd of September 1868. |
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| In front of the Kawarazakiza in March 1854 (print made by Utagawa Hiroshige I) | |
| Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VII | |
| The actor Ichikawa Danjûrô IX held the name of Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VII from March 1869 to August 1873. | |
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Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VII portraying Ôboshi Yuranosuke in a print made by Toyohara Kunichika in 1869 |
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| Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VIII | |
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Born in 1861 in Edo in the district of Asakusa Torigoe-chô. Nephew of Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VI's wife, he was adopted by the Kawarazaki clan in 1870 and received the name of Yamazaki Fukujirô. He took the name of Kawarazaki Gonnosuke VIII in 1874. He took part as a zamoto in the reopening of the Kawarazakiza in July 1874, which celebrated the shûmei of Ichikawa Danjûrô IX. It unfortunately ended in May 1875. Gonnosuke struggled to find some money and finally reopened the theater, under the name of Shinboriza, in the district of Shinbori-chô. The first program was produced in common with the Nakamuraza in October 1875 and included the famous dance-drama "Kanjinchô", which starred Ichikawa Danjûrô IX (Benkei), Ichikawa Sadanji I (Togashi) and Iwai Hanshirô VIII (Yoshitsune). The Shinboriza went bankrupt the following year, in 1876 and Gonnosuke sold both his license for Kabuki performances and the theater to an investor named Haga Shûhei, who was not belonging to the Kabuki world. This sale definitively sealed the fate of the Kawarazakiza. Afterwards, Gonnosuke joined the management of the Shôchiku as an adviser at the Kabukiza. He died the 9 November 1917. He was the father of the Zenshinza star Kawarazaki Chôjûrô IV. |
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| The mon of Kawarazaki Gonnosuke | |
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