Stage names:
| Tsuruya Namboku IV |  |
| Katsu Hyôzô I | |
| Sawa Hyôzô | |
| Sakurada Hyôzô | |
Line number: YODAIME (IV)
Existence: 1755 ~ 27 November 1829
Connection:
Masters: Sakurada Jisuke I, Kanai Sanshô
Father-in-law: Tsuruya Namboku III
Son: Katsu Hyôzô II
Son-in-laws: Katsu Hyôsuke, Musashiya Gonza
Disciples: Kanai Sangyô, Matsui Kôzô II, Sakurada Jisuke II, Kameya Tôsaku, Tsuruya Daihachi, Hanagasa Bunkyô, Katsui Gempachi, Masuyama Kimpachi II, Tajima Konosuke I
Career:
1755: born in Edo; his father is the dyer Ebiya Izaburô. His first name is Katsujirô and he became Inosuke when he becomes adult.
1776: wishing to become a sakusha, he enters the Kabuki world to become a disciple of Sakurada Jisuke I.
November 1777: he joins the Nakamuraza and receives the name of Sakurada Hyôzô.
1780: he joins the Ichimuraza and takes the name of Sawa Hyôzô.
1780 ~ 1781: he gets married with Tsuruya Namboku III's daughter.
1782: he joins the Moritaza and takes the name of Katsu Hyôzô I.
1787 (?): Tsuruya Namboku III dies.
1788: he takes the name of Tsuruya Namboku IV dies.
January 1803: he becomes tatesakusha at the Kawarazakiza, thanks to the support of the star Bandô Hikosaburô III.
July 1808: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Namboku's drama "Toki-mo Kikyô Shusse no Ukejô" [casting].
June 1809: premiere at the Moritaza of Namboku's ghost play "Okuni Gozen Keshô no Sugatami" [casting].
January 1810: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Namboku and Sakurada Jisuke II drama "Kokoro no Nazo Toketa Iroito" [casting].
March 1810: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Namboku's drama "Kachi Zumô Ukina no Hanabure" (commonly called "Shirafuji Genta") [casting].
May 1810: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Namboku and Sakurada Jisuke II drama "Ehon Gappô-ga-Tsuji" [casting].
March 1813: premiere at the Moritaza of Namboku's play "Osome Hisamatsu Ukina no Yomiuri" (commonly called "Osome no Nanayaku", in English "The seven roles of Osome"). The seven roles are played by Iwai Hanshirô V.
March 1814: premiere of Namboku's drama "Sumidagawa Hana no Goshozome", commonly called "Onna Seigen", at the Ichimuraza, starring Iwai Hanshirô V, Ichikawa Danjûrô VII and Matsumoto Kôshirô V.
May 1815: premiere of Namboku's drama "Kakitsubata Iro mo Edozome" (commonly called "Oroku to Gantetsu", in English "The female Seigen") at the Kawarazakiza, starring Iwai Hanshirô V, Ichikawa Danjûrô VII, Bandô Mitsugorô III and Matsumoto Kôshirô V.
July 1815: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of Namboku's drama "Haji Momiji Ase no Kaomise" (commonly called "Date no Jûyaku", in English the ten roles of Date), whose plot and characters belong to the "Meiboku Sendai Hagi" world. The ten roles are played by Ichikawa Danjûrô VII [casting].
March 1817: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of Namboku's masterpiece "Sakura Hime Azuma Bunshô" [casting].
March 1820: premiere at the Tamagawaza of Namboku's drama "Sakura Butai Maku no Datezome" [casting].
June 1821: Namboku's drama "Kachi Zumô Ukina no Hanabure", commonly called "Shirafuji Genta", is revived for the first time, 11 years and 3 months after its premiere in Edo at the Ichimuraza [casting], in Kyôto at the Kitagawa no Shibai [casting].
September 1821: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of Namboku's drama "Tsuki no En Tsuki no Shiranami". The main role is played by Onoe Kikugorô III (Sadakurô).
November 1821: premiere at the Kawarazakiza of Namboku's drama "Imoseyama Hitome Sembon", which mixes the "Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura" and "Imoseyama Onna Teikin" worlds [casting].
March 1823: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Namboku's drama "Ukiyozuka Hiyoku no Inazuma" [casting].
June 1823: premiere at the Moritaza of Namboku's drama "Kesakake Matsu Narita no Riken", starring Onoe Kikugorô III and Ichikawa Danjûrô VII in the roles of Kasane and Yoemon. The michiyuki, commonly called "Iro Moyô Chotto Karimame", is still regularly performed.
July 1825: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Namboku's ghost play "Tôkaidô Yotsuya Kaidan" [casting].
September 1825: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Namboku's drama "Kamikakete Sango Taisetsu" [casting].
November 1825: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Namboku's drama "Oniwaka Kongen Butai". The main roles are played by Ichikawa Danjûrô VII, Iwai Shijaku I (Osome) and Iwai Kumesaburô II (Hisamatsu). The michiyuki, which is called "Ukine no Tomodori", is still part of the current Kabuki repertoire.
January 1829: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Namboku's drama "Kin no Zai Saru Shima Dairi". The main roles are played by Segawa Kikunojô V (Takiyasha) and Nakamura Shikan II (Bandô Tarô).
27 November 1829: Namboku dies in Edo.
Comments:
Tsuruya Namboku IV was one of Kabuki's most prolific playwrights and the creator of the kizewamono genre. He wrote during his career around 120 plays.
"Tsuruya Namboku IV (1755~1829) was active during the Bunka-Bunsei
era (1804~29), a time when Kabuki flourished in Edo and a number of talented actors
emerged. Nanboku himself was quite some talent. He wrote by reworking popular
18th-century kabuki plays, incorporating elements drawn from earlier dramas
(a method known as naimaze [mixing]). But the playwright was as much an innovator
as a copyist, creating such interesting new roles as iroaku (handsome but wicked villains)
and akuba (middle-aged women who can bluff, fight and swindle).
As might be expected from such characters, Nanboku's plays are filled with scenes of
extortion, killing and erotic entanglements. Dubbed kizewamono
(genuine sewamono), the dramas portray
people living at the bottom of Edo's hierarchical society, and they are written in a
brisk, earthy idiom typical of the townspeople. Scenes unfold rapidly and various stage
tricks add to the fun."
(Sasaguchi Rei)
"It was the lot of the sakusha to be poor, and Namboku was no exception.
An incident is told of him that during a period of poverty he was kneeling in front
of his little writing-desk, when his wife entered and asked for the wherewithal
to buy some rice. He had no money, so she took the mosquito net, an indispensable
article in a Japanese house in warm weather, and went to the pawnbroker,
where she exchanged it for sufficient coin of the realm to keep the house supplied
with rice for a short period. Namboku made good use of this domestic episode,
and has immortalised it in "Yotsuya Kaidan".
The long-suffering Oiwa is cruelly treated by her husband that she may leave the house,
as he wishes to marry another woman, younger, prettier, and richer in this world's goods.
In his attempt to get rid of her he sells everything in the house piece by piece,
the mosquito net among them, hoping by his callous cruelty to drive her away."
(Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan")
Tsuruya Namboku IV
