Stage names:
Iwai Hanshirô VII
Iwai Shijaku I
Iwai Matsunosuke I
Iwai Komurasaki I
Nickname: Shijaku Hanshirô
Guild: Yamatoya
Line number: SHICHIDAIME (VII)
Poetry names: Senchô, Tojaku
Existence: 1804 ~ 1 April 1845
Connections:
Great-grandfather: Sawamura Sôjûrô II
Grandfathers: Iwai Hanshirô IV, Sawamura Sôjûrô III
Father: Iwai Hanshirô V
Father-in-law: Segawa Rokô IV
Eldest brother: Iwai Hanshirô VI
Son: Iwai Hanshirô VIII
Disciple : Iwai Matsunosuke II
Career:
1804: born in Edo. He is the second son of the star Iwai Hanshirô V, who gives him the name of Iwai Komurasaki I.
November 1806: Iwai Komurasaki I takes the name of Iwai Matsunosuke I at the Nakamuraza.
March 1817: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's masterpiece "Sakura Hime Azuma Bunshô"; Matsunosuke plays the role of Inanoya Hanjûrô [casting].
March 1820: premiere at the Tamagawaza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Sakura Butai Maku no Datezome"; Matsunosuke plays the role of Takao [casting].
1820 ~ 1821: tour Kamigata with his father.
June 1821: Tsuruya Namboku IV's drama "Kachi Zumô Ukina no Hanabure", commonly called "Shirafuji Genta", is revived for the first time, 11 years and 3 months after its premiere in Edo, in Kyôto at the Kitagawa no Shibai; Matsunosuke plays the role of Osawa [casting].
November 1822: Iwai Matsunosuke I takes the name of Iwai Shijaku I at the Moritaza, playing in the drama "Hanayagura Wakoku no Kachidoki".
November 1822 ~ October 1823: the best year of the Iwai Clan; The tateonnagata for the 3 Edo theaters (Edo Sanza) are Iwai Hanshirô V (Ichimuraza), Iwai Kumesaburô II (Nakamuraza) and Shijaku (Moritaza).
Winter 1831: Shijaku goes for the second time to Kamigata.
November 1832: great shûmei in Edo for the Iwai clan at the Nakamuraza (without Shijaku!); Iwai Hanshirô V, Iwai Kumesaburô II and Iwai Hisajirô II respectively take the names of Iwai Tojaku, Iwai Hanshirô VI and Iwai Kumesaburô III.
March 1835: Shijaku plays at the Naka no Shibai (Ôsaka) the roles of Yae and Tonami in the drama "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami".
April 1835: Shijaku goes back to Edo.
July 1835: his elder brother Iwai Hanshirô VI dies.
March 1844: Iwai Shijaku I takes the name of Iwai Hanshirô VII at the Nakamuraza.
January 1845: Hanshirô appears on stage for the last time, at the Nakamuraza, playing in the drama "Tama Tsubaki Gempei Soga". He suddenly falls ill and dies the first of April. His tombstone is located in the precinct of the Jôshinji Temple in the district of Fukagawa (Edo).
Comments:
Iwai Hanshirô VII was a talented onnagata actor, endowed with a beautiful face, who excelled in the roles of machi musume in sewamono dramas. Like his brother Iwai Hanshirô VI, he died too young, before reaching the peak of his career. He published two books about his art, in 1823 and 1828.
Iwai Hanshirô VII portraying the courtesan Ôiso no Tora, the lover of Soga Jûrô in sogamono dramas, in a print made by Kunisada I in June 1852
Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni in 1819
Print made by Utagawa Kunisada in 1824
Print made by Utagawa Kunisada (1830~1843)
Print made by Utagawa Kunisada in 1852
The Iwai Shijaku line of actors
The Iwai Hanshirô line of actors