Stage names:
Yamatoya Uzaemon
Mizuki Tatsunosuke I
Tsurukawa Tatsunosuke II
Tsuyugawa Ryûnosuke
Yamatoya Ushimatsu
Others names: Jinkurô, Seijûrô
Guild: Yamatoya
Line number: SHODAI (I)
Existence: 1673 ~ 23 September 1745
Connections:
Uncle: Yamatoya Jimbei II
Father: Saitô Shimpachi
Disciples: Mizuki Somenosuke I, Mizuki Somenosuke II, Miogi Naniwa, Yamatoya Jin'emon, Mizuki Tominosuke, Mizuki Sawanosuke
Career:
1673: born in Ôsaka. He is the son of the handôgataki Saitô Shimpachi.
1681 ~ 1685: he starts his career in Ôsaka in a troupe of children-actors (kodomo shibai), performing under the name of Yamatoya Ushimatsu. Later on, he takes the name of Tsuyugawa Ryûnosuke.
1685: Tsuyugawa Ryûnosuke takes the name of Tsurugawa Tatsunosuke II and becomes wakashugata.
1687: Tsurugawa Tatsunosuke II takes the name of Mizuki Tatsunosuke I.
1689: Tatsunosuke goes with his uncle Yamatoya Jimbei II to Kyôto.
January 1689: Tatsunosuke becomes wakaonnagata and plays at Miyako Mandayû's theater in the drama "Keisei Sode no Umi".
1690: Tatsunosuke plays in the same theater the role of Ayame in the drama "Kanaoka-ga-Fude". Around that time, he changes the writing of his family name:
| Old writing for Mizuki | new writing for Mizuki |
| 椹 | 水木 |
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January 1691: Tatsunosuke achieves a great success in the same theater by playing the role of Arima no Ofuji in the drama "Musume Oya no Adauchi", which includes a impressive yari odori.
March 1691: Tatsunosuke goes to Edo and plays in the drama "Onna Katakiuchi", which is staged at the Nakamuraza. His stay in Edo is short and he quickly goes back to Kyôto to play the role of Okiku in the drama "Ichi-no-Tani Saka Otoshi", which is staged at Hayagumo Chôdayû's theater.
1692: The purple hat he uses on stage becomes the latest fashion in the city of Kyôto and is called "Mizuki Bôshi" ("the Mizuki hat").
November 1693: Tatsunosuke plays in the drama "Hako Denju", which is produced in Kyôto by Murayama Heiemon III. His main stage partner is the Edo star Ichikawa Danjûrô I, who is on tour in the Imperial Capital.
March 1694: Tatsunosuke plays in the same theater the role of Princess Taema in the drama "Narukami Yûjoron"; the role of the wicked priest Narukami is played by Ichikawa Danjûrô I.
September 1694: Tatsunosuke plays in the same theater the role of Tomoe-no-Mae in the drama "Kumagai Nagori no Sakazuki". His stage partners are Ichikawa Danjûrô I (Kumagai Jirô Naozane), Yamatoya Jimbei II (Taira no Tadanori), Murayama Heiemon III (Iga Heinai Saemon), Sakata Tôkurô (Taira no Michimori), Iwai Hananojô (Michimori's wife), Onoe Taganojô I (Taira no Atsumori), Tomizawa Samanosuke (Kumagai's wife) and Uemura Takenojô (Kumagai's son).
January 1695: Tatsunosuke plays at Hayagumo Chôdayû's theater the role of Himematsu in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Ima Genji Rokujûjô". He also performs the leading role of a beautiful and very successful dance about a maiden, who loves his brother but can't understand why such a love is forbidden and turns into a cat, frantically drifting among butterflies.
September 1695: Tatsunosuke plays at Miyako Mandayû's theater the role of Arima no Ofuji in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Mizuki Tatsunosuke Tachiburu Mai".
Fall 1695: Tatsunosuke goes to Edo.
November 1695: Tatsunosuke plays at the Ichimuraza in the drama "Shiki Gosho Zakura". He performs the leading role of a yari odori, achieving a great success. The "Mizuki Bôshi" ("the Mizuki hat") also becomes a new fashion in Edo and there is a shop in Asakusa, which sells jewel caskets named "Mizuki Miyage" (literally "Souvenir of Mizuki").
Fall 1697: Tatsunosuke goes back to Kyôto.
November 1697: Tatsunosuke achieves a great success at Miyako Mandayû's theater by performing all the roles of a 7-role hengemono, which is titles "Nana Bake". Because of this amazing performance, Tatsunosuke is considered by the Kabuki historians as the first pioneer in the creation of hengemono.
January 1698: Tatsunosuke's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent).
July 1698: Tatsunosuke plays in Kyôtô at Miyako Mandayû's theater the role of Otake in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Isshin Niga Byakudô".
January 1704: Tatsunosuke goes to Ôsaka and appears on stage for the last time, playing the role of Oishi in the drama "Sangoku Yome Iro Naoshi", which is produced by Iwai Hanshirô II. He retires and takes the name of Yamatoya Uzaemon, which he keeps up to his death in 1745.
Comments:
Mizuki Tatsunosuke I was a great onnagata actor of the Genroku era and an outstanding dancer. He excelled in both yari odori and hengemono. 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 Ogino Sawanojô, Sodesaki Karyû and Yoshizawa Ayame I. He founded the Mizuki school of dance, which still exists nowadays.
Mizuki Tatsunosuke I as depicted in an illustration from the book "Amayo no Sambai Kigen" (1693)