Stage names:

Segawa Rokô IV
Segawa Michinosuke I
Segawa Kikunosuke
Nakamura Sennosuke I
Bandô Sennosuke

Other name: Segawa Kikunojô IV

Nickname: En'ya Rokô

Guild: En'ya, Hamamuraya

Line number: YODAIME (IV)

Poetry name: Rokô

Blazon: the spray of tied cotton (yui wata)

Existence: 1782 ~ 29th day of the 11th lunar month of 1812

Connections:

Adoptive father: Nakamura Jûzô III (?) ^[1]

Father: Nakamura Jûzô II (?) ^[2]

Father-in-law (and adoptive father): Segawa Kikunojô III

Son-in-laws: Iwai Hanshirô VII, Segawa Kikunojô V

Career:

1782: born in Edo in the district of Kobiki-chô. His mother is the daughter of En'ya Ihachi, the owner of a shibai jaya. His father is said to be Nakamura Jûzô II. He does his training in a troupe of children-actors, playing under the name of Bandô Sennosuke.

1st lunar month of 1792: he makes his first appearance on stage, in Edo at the Kawarasakiza, performing under the name of Nakamura Sennosuke I as a koyaku in the drama "Keisei Kin no Hakarime".

3rd lunar month of 1798: Sennosuke becomes wakaonnagata at the Kiriza, playing the role of the courtesan Wakatake in the drama "Miotsukushi Naniwa no Nagame".

Fall 1799: he gets married with the daughter of Segawa Kikunojô III and is adopted by his father-in-law.

11th lunar month of 1799: he receives the name of Segawa Kikunosuke at the Ichimuraza, performing in the kaomise drama "Utsukushiki Yuki no Sekai".

2nd lunar month of 1800: Namiki Gohei's drama "Gosan no Kiri" is staged for the first time in Edo, at the Ichimuraza in a somewhat different version titled "Sanmon Gosan no Kiri" instead of "Kinmon Gosan no Kiri"; Kikunosuke plays the role of the courtesan Kokonoe [casting].

8th lunar month of 1801: first grand shûmei for the Hamamuraya guild, at the Ichimuraza; Segawa Kikunojô III, Segawa Kikunosuke, Segawa Kikusaburô II and Segawa Matsunosuke respectively take the names of Segawa Rokô III, Segawa Michinosuke I, Segawa Michisaburô I and Segawa Hamajirô. They play together in the drama "Dôjima Tamino no Tsumikomi".

9th lunar month of 1804: Namiki Gohei I's drama "Kanjin Kanmon Tekuda no Hajimari" was staged for the first time in Edo, produced by Ichimura Uzaemon XI at the Ichimuraza; Michinosuke plays the role of the keisei Takao [more details].

11th lunar month of 1807: second grand shûmei for the Hamamuraya guild, at the Nakamuraza; Segawa Rokô III and Segawa Michinosuke I respectively take the names of Segawa Senjo and Segawa Rokô IV. The two actors achieve a great success by playing in the kaomise drama "Kaikei Yuki no Konoshita".

7th lunar month of 1808: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Segawa Jokô II's drama "Zôho Izari no Adauchi"; Rokô plays the role of Katsugorô's wife Hatsuhana [casting].

4th lunar month of 1809: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the 7-role Nagauta-based dance-drama "Kantan Sono no Kikuchô"; Rokô plays the roles of a keisei, a komori, Kintarô and a shirabyôshi [more details].

4th day of the 12th lunar month of 1810: his adoptive father Segawa Senjo dies.

11th lunar month of 1812: Rokô appears on stage for the last time, at the Nakamuraza, playing in the dramas "Edo Zakura Megumi no Takanori" and "Sekai no Iro Hana to iru Yuki".

29th day of the 11th lunar month of 1812: Rokô dies in Edo.

Comments:

Segawa Rokô IV was a popular actor and a rival of Iwai Hanshirô V for the title of Edo best onnagata. He excelled in the roles of maiden or spouse in sewamono dramas. He was unfortunately cut down in his prime and posthumously received the name of Segawa Kikunojô IV.

[1] In the 1794 Edo hyôbanki, it was recorded that Sennosuke was the adopted son of the actor Nakamura Jûzô III, who was performing in Ôsaka, not Edo, during the 1790s.

[2] His official father was En'ya Ihachi but the identity of the real father is not clear. It was most likely Nakamura Jûzô II, a Kamigata actor who performed in Edo for several seasons.

Segawa Rokô IV playing the role of Tomoe Gozen in the "Onna Shibaraku" scene of the kaomise drama "Kaikei Yuki no Konoshita", which was staged at the Nakamuraza in the 11th lunar month of 1807 (print made by Utagawa Toyokuni I)

Prints & Illustrations

Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni

The Nakamura Sennosuke line of actors

The Segawa Rokô line of actors

The Segawa Kikunojô line of actors