Stage names:

Bandô Yasosuke
Morita Kan'ya IX
Morita Matakichi

Line number: KUDAIME (IX)

Existence: ??? ~ 1838

Connections:

Grandfather: Morita Kan'ya V

Father: Bandô Yasosuke I (Morita Kan'ya VIII)

Career:

???: born in Edo at an unknown date. His father Morita Kan'ya VIII gives him the name of Morita Matakichi.

November 1801: Morita Kan'ya VIII and his son Morita Matakichi respectively take the names of Bandô Yasosuke I and Morita Kan'ya IX at the Kawarazakiza, playing in the drama "Ume ni Suisen Iro no Udezuku"; the new Kan'ya becomes the official zamoto of the closed Moritaza.

January 1805: Kan'ya goes to Ôsaka and plays at the Kado no Shibai the roles of Araguma Tarô and Kudô Saemon Suketsune in the new year drama "Matta Shibaraku Imairi Sugata".

April 1805: Kan'ya plays in the same theater the role of Hôjô Tokimasa in the drama "Ômi Genji Senjin Yakata".

May 1808: the Moritaza, which was closed since 1800, reopens.

June 1809: premiere at the Moritaza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's ghost play "Okuni Gozen Keshô no Sugatami"; Kan'ya plays the roles of Nagoya Kosanza, Kanaya no Kingorô and Ashikaga Yoshimasa [casting].

22 February 1814: his father Bandô Yasosuke I dies.

March 1814: Kan'ya plays the Moritaza the role of Koganosuke in the drama "Imoseyama Onna Teikin".

April 1814 ~ October 1817: the Moritaza goes bankrupt; Kan'ya gives his licence for Kabuki performances to Kawarazaki Gonnosuke V, the manager of the Kawarazakiza, the hikae yagura of the Moritaza.

Fall 1816: Kan'ya goes to Ôsaka and plays in November at the Naka no Shibai the role of Shigehira in the drama "Gosho Zakura Horikawa no Youchi".

November 1817: the Moritaza reopens; the opening program including the great dance-drama "Tsumoru Koi Yuki no Seki no To", starring Ichikawa Omezô I, Bandô Matajûrô, Kan'ya and Azuma Tôzô IV in the roles of Kuronushi, Munesada, Komachi and the spirit of the cherry tree.

July 1818 ~ October 1822: the Moritaza goes bankrupt; Kan'ya gives his licence for Kabuki performances to Kawarazaki Gonnosuke V, the manager of the Kawarazakiza, the hikae yagura of the Moritaza.

November 1822: the Moritaza reopens; the opening program is also the shûmei of Iwai Shijaku I.

May 1823 ~ October 1833: the Moritaza goes bankrupt; Kan'ya gives his licence for Kabuki performances to Kawarazaki Gonnosuke V, the manager of the Kawarazakiza, the hikae yagura of the Moritaza.

May 1830: Morita Kan'ya IX, who has decided to retire, and Bandô Sampachi III respectively take the names of Bandô Yasosuke and Morita Kan'ya X.

1838: Yasosuke dies in Edo.

Comments:

Morita Kan'ya IX was both a tachiyaku actor and the tenth manager of the Moritaza from 1808 to 1823. He had hard times to keep the family business up and running because of the heavy burden of the theater debts and went bankrupt three times during his career.

Morita Kan'ya IX playing the role of Atsumori in the drama "Ichi-no-Tani Futaba Gunki", which was staged in June 1808 at the Moritaza (print made by Utagawa Toyokuni I)

The Morita Kan'ya line of actors and theater managers