Stage names:

Bandô Hikosaburô II
Bandô Kikumatsu II

Other name:

Bandô Shinsui II

Guild: Yorozuya

Line number: NIDAIME (II)

Poetry name: Shinsui (2)

Existence: 1741 ~ 4th day of the 5th lunar month of 1768 ^[1]

Connection:

Father: Bandô Hikosaburô I

Brother-in-law: Onoe Kikugorô I

Disciple: Bandô Hikozaemon I

Career:

11th lunar month of 1749: he made his first appearance on stage at the Ichimuraza, where he received the name of Bandô Kikumatsu II and played a child role in the kaomise drama "Yoritomo Gunbai Kagami".

1st day of the 1st lunar month of 1751 ^[2]: his father Bandô Hikosaburô I died in Edo.

11th lunar month of 1751: Bandô Kikumatsu II took the name of Bandô Hikosaburô II at the Ichimuraza, playing 2 roles in the kaomise drama "Kamimukae Nigiwai Genji", which welcomed in Edo the Kamigata actor Arashi Shichigorô I.

1st lunar month of 1754: Hikosaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, koyaku section, was jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1754: Hikosaburô performed at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise program "Keisei Asakusa no Kane".

1st lunar month of 1755: Hikosaburô played in the same theater performed in the new year sogamono drama "Kodakara Aigo Soga".

11th lunar month of 1756: Hikosaburô became tachiyaku and performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Masakado Shôzoku no Enoki".

1st lunar month of 1758: Hikosaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tsuno katsura section, was jô-(shiro)jô (superior - (white) superior). [visual].

11th lunar month of 1758: Hikosaburô played at the Ichimuraza the role of Hôjô no Tokimune in the kaomise drama "Kaomise Sajikigadake".

1st lunar month of 1759: Hikosaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tsuno katsura section, was jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual]. [visual].

11th lunar month of 1759: Hikosaburô played at the Ichimuraza the role of Nagoya Kosanza in the kaomise drama "Okunizome Shusse Butai", which welcomed in Edo the Kamigata actors Anegawa Daikichi I and Hanakawa Ichinojô.

11th lunar month of 1760: Hikosaburô performed at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Ume Momiji Date no Ôkido".

11th lunar month of 1761: Hikosaburô performed at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Wakamusha Kokyô no Nishiki".

1st lunar month of 1762: Hikosaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent) [visual]. [visual]. He played in the same theater the role of Soga Gorô Tokimune in the new year sogamono drama "Nokon no Yuki Katsuiro Soga"; the roles of Kudô Saemon Suketsune and Soga Jûrô Sukenari were played by Sawamura Sôjûrô II and Ichimura Kamezô I.

11th lunar month of 1762: Hikosaburô performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Nagi no Ha Izu no Sugatami", which celebrated the shûmei of Ôtani Hiroemon III, Nakajima Kanzaemon III and Ichikawa Somegorô I.

1st lunar month of 1763: Hikosaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô-hankichi (superior - superior - half excellent) [visual]. [visual].

11th lunar month of 1763: Hikosaburô played at the Moritaza the role of Sanada Yoichi in the kaomise drama "Ume ya Suisen Izu no Irifune", which celebrated the shûmei of Nakamura Sukegorô II.

11th lunar month of 1764: Hikosaburô performed at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Wakaki no Hana Suma no Hatsuyuki".

1st lunar month of 1765: Hikosaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual]. [visual].

11th lunar month of 1765: Hikosaburô played at the Ichimuraza the role of Watanabe no Tsuna in the kaomise drama "Furitsumu Hana Nidai Genji".

9th lunar month of 1766: Hikosaburô played in the same theater the role of Hayano Kanpei in the drama "Kanadehon Chûshingura". The role of Okaru was played by Onoe Matsusuke I.

11th lunar month of 1766: Hikosaburô played at the Nakamuraza the roles of Kamakura Gongorô Kagemasa and Hachiman Tarô Yoshiie in the kaomise drama "Kogane no Hana Kaijin Arasmusha", which celebrated the arrival in Edo of the Kamigata actor Kirishima Gizaemon I.

1st lunar month of 1767: Hikosaburô played in the same theater the role of Danzaburô in the new year sogamono drama "Hatsu Akinai Ômise Soga".

11th lunar month of 1767: Hikosaburô performed at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Taiheiki Shizu no Furisode".

1st lunar month of 1768: Hikosaburô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was two black strokes above jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent). [visual]. Hikosaburô appeared on stage for the last time, at the Nakamuraza, playing in the drama "Fude Hajime Soga no Tamazusa".

4th day of the 5th lunar month of 1768 ^[1]: Hikosaburô died in Edo.

Comments:

Bandô Hikosaburô II was a talented Edo tachiyaku actor, who was active from the end of the 1740s to the second half of the 1760s. He was a very popular actor among the female audience of Edo theaters but he unfortunately died young.

[1] The 4th day of the 5th lunar month of the 5th year of the Meiwa era was the 18th of June 1768 in the western calendar.

[2] The 1st day of the 1st lunar month of the 4th year of the Kan'en era was the 27th of January 1751 in the western calendar.

Bando Hikosaburô II as Hanaregoma Chôkichi holding his black horse ca. 1756 (print made by Torii Kiyomitsu I)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (print in the public domain)

Prints & Illustrations

Print made by Torii Kiyomitsu in 1759

Print made by Suzuki Harunobu in 1760

Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni (1862~1863)

The Bandô Kikumatsu line of actors

The Bandô Shinsui line of actors

The Bandô Hikosaburô line of actors