Stage/pen name:

Murayama Jûheiji I

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Existence: ??? ~ 5th day of the 5th lunar month of 1729 ^[1]

Connection:

Master: Murayama Heijûrô I

Disciple: Murayama Jûheiji II

Career:

1693: disciple of Murayama Heijûrô I, he received the name of Murayama Jûheiji I. He was recorded as performing as a katakiyaku in Edo ^[2].

11th lunar month of 1695: Jûheiji performed as a katakiyaku at the Moritaza in the kaomise drama "Miura no Asahina Ganseki-wari".

11th lunar month of 1696: Jûheiji performed as a tachiyaku at the Moritaza in the kaomise drama "Shitennô Yome Kagami", which welcomed in Edo his master Murayama Heijûrô I.

Fall 1699: Jûheiji went to Ôsaka.

1st lunar month of 1700: Jûheiji played in Ôsaka the role of Hayashida Sukedayû in the new year drama "Nanto Jûsangane", which was produced in Ôsaka by Iwai Hanshirô II.

1st lunar month of 1702: Jûheiji played in Ôsaka the role of Takatô Shingozaemon in the new year drama "Keisei Myôto Ike", which was produced in Ôsaka by Iwai Hanshirô II.

Fall 1702: Jûheiji went to Edo with Nakamura Gentarô.

11th lunar month of 1702: Jûheiji played at the Ichimuraza the role of Nobutsura in the kaomise drama "Yorimasa Hôraizan".

11th lunar month of 1706: Jûheiji performed at the Yamamuraza in the kaomise drama "Kaeribana Buyû Kagami", which celebrated the arrival in Edo of the Kamigata actor Takeshima Kôzaemon I.

8th lunar month of 1707: his master Murayama Heijûrô I died in Kyôto.

11th lunar month of 1707: Jûheiji played at the Nakamuraza the role of Minbu Samon in the kaomise drama "Suô no Naishi Azuma Nishiki", which welcomed in Edo the actor Arashi Kiyosaburô I.

11th lunar month of 1709: Jûheiji played at the Nakamuraza the role of Daidôji Chûtazaemon in the kaomise drama "Imagawajô Ryôshun Katoku".

3rd lunar month of 1710: Jûheiji's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1710: Jûheiji played at the Nakamuraza the role of Gunji Saemon in the kaomise drama "Shinsen Kazanin".

11th lunar month of 1711: Jûheiji played at the Nakamuraza the role of Harada no Jirô in the kaomise drama "Mitsu Uroko Katoku Biraki".

9th lunar month of 1712: Jûheiji played in the same theater the role of Higuchi Jirô in the drama "Yoshinaga Mitsu Domoe". Suffering from a terrible eye disease, he had to stop acting.

1st lunar month of 1713: Jûheiji was expected to perform at the Yamamuraza in the kaomise drama "Ishiyama Genta Kimon Yaburi" ('Ishiyama Genta Tearing Down the Demons Gate'). Due to his eye disease, he could not appear on stage. No record afterwards for 15 years!

11th lunar month of 1728: Jûheiji was back in the Kabuki world, not as an actor but a sakusha, working with Murase Genzaburô at the Nakamuraza on the kaomise drama "Hoshi Kabuto Goban Tadanobu".

5th day of the 5th lunar month of 1729 ^[1]: Jûheiji died in Edo.

Comments:

Murayama Jûheiji I was trained as a katakiyaku actor, but quickly switched to tachiyaku actor. He was active from the first half of the 1690s to the first half of the 1710s. Due to a serious eye disease, he could not perform on stage anymore and ended his career as a sakusha.

[1] The 5th day of the 5th lunar month of the 14th year of the Kyôhô era was the 1st of June 1729 in the western calendar.

[2] This was his first record in Kabuki chronicles. In 1693, his master was in Ôsaka, not in Edo. Jûheiji most likely became disciple of Murayama Heijûrô I between 1685 and 1688 when this Kamigata actor stayed in Edo.

Katsuyama Matagorô (top/left), Tomizawa Hanzaburô I (bottom/center) and Murayama Jûheiji I (top/right) playing the roles of Yukienosuke Tokikichi, Akaboshi Tarô and Harada no Jirô in the kaomise drama "Mitsu Uroko Katoku Biraki", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1711 at the Nakamuraza