Stage names:

Karyû Sawaemon
Sodesaki Karyû

Other name: Karyû Jiemon

Existence: ??? ~ 1730

Connections:

Brother: Sodesaki Iroha

Disciples: Sodesaki Miwano I, Sodesaki Iseno I

Career:

??? ~ 1692: he starts his career in Ôsaka, performing under the name of Sodesaki Karyû. He changes the writing of his first name at an unknown date:

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1692: Karyû settles in Kyôto.

November 1693: Karyû plays in Tominaga Heibei's drama "Budô no Tassha", which is produced by Osagawa Jûemon for the nadai Miyako Mandayû.

Winter 1695 ~ 1696: Karyû goes to Edo.

November 1698: Karyû plays at the a Yamamuraza in the drama "Genji Daikoku Bashira".

January 1699: Karyû's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent).

October 1699: Karyû his onagori kyôgen in Edo at the Moritaza, playing the leading role of the drama "Kaeribana Onna Budô".

Fall 1699: Karyû goes back to Ôsaka.

January 1700: Karyû plays the role of Teruhi-no-Mae in the drama "Onna Chôteki Sangoku Denraiki", which is produced at the Kita-Horie Ichigawa no Shibai (Ôsaka) by Araki Yojibei I.

March 1700: Karyû's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent).

January 1702: Karyû plays in the new year drama "Heishin'ô Masakado", which is produced by Kataoka Nizaemon I in Shioya Kurôemon's theater.

November 1703: Karyû goes to Kyôto and plays in the kaomise drama "Watamashi Mannengura", which is produced by Takashima Onoe at Kameya Kumenojô's theater.

November 1704: Karyû plays at Miyako Mandayû's theater the role of Ono no Koharu in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's kaomise drama "Kisshô Tennyo Anzan no Tama".

November 1713: Karyû plays in Ôsaka the role of Otome in the kaomise drama "Yoyo Meoto Tsuru no Mago" [more details], which was staged in November 1713 at Shioya Kuroemon's theater.

November 1714: Karyû plays the roles of Okaji and Mochizuki Kurozaemon's wife in the kaomise drama "Yonedawara Mangoku no Minato", which is produced by Shinozuka Shômatsu I for the nadai Ôsaka Tazaemon; the role of Mochizuki Kurozaemon is played by Osagawa Jûemon.

November 1718: last performance as an onnagata actor.

Winter 1718: he decides to become tachiyaku and takes the name of Karyû Sawaemon.

January 1719: Sawaemon's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent).

November 1726: Sawaemon plays at Kameya Kumenojô's theater (Kyôto) in the kaomise drama "Karanishiki Imose no Shitone".

January 1727: Sawaemon's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-jô-(hanshiro)kichi (superior - superior - almost excellent).

Winter 1727 ~ 1728: he definitively retires, taking the name of Karyû Jiemon and opening an incense shop in Edo in the district of Nihombashi.

Comments:

Sodesaki Karyû was a talented onnagata actor, endowed with a beautiful face, who achieved fame for himself in the three major cities (Edo, Kyôto and Ôsaka) from the Genroku era to the middle of the Kyôhô era. "His talent was versatile, and he could act the greatest variety of women, from a princess to the wife of a coolie". He was at his best in budôgoto female roles. He belonged to a group of four actors nicknamed "wakaonnagata no shitennô", literally "the big four wakaonnagata" (this expression comes from the four Deva kings in Buddhism). The three others were Mizuki Tatsunosuke I, Ogino Sawanojô and Yoshizawa Ayame I. He decided to switch to tachiyaku roles when he was at the peak of his career as an onnagata: "his audiences took kindly to the change, and he did not lose his stage reputation in consequence". As a tachiyaku, jitsugotoshi roles were his forte.

(*) The 2 sentences within double quotes are from Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan"

Sodesaki Karyû as depicted in an illustration from the book "Amayo no Sambai Kigen" (1693)