Stage names:
Ichikawa Sadanji I
Sodesaki Kikutarô
Sodeoka Kikutarô
Line number: SHODAI (I)
Poetry name: Shunkô (?)
Existence: ???
Connection:
Masters: Ichikawa Ebizô II, Sodesaki Miwano I
Career:
Fall 1726: he becomes disciple of Sodesaki Miwano I and receives the name of Sodeoka Kikutarô.
November 1726: he makes his debut at the Nakamuraza, performing as an onnagata iroko.
November 1736: Kikutarô plays at the Kawarazakiza the role of Kôtô-no-Naishi in the kaomise drama "Jumpû Taiheiki".
January 1737: Kikutarô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent).
November 1737: the play "Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki" is staged for the first time in Edo, at the Kawarazakiza, as a kaomise drama titled "Uruoizuki Ninin Kagekiyo"; Kikutarô plays the role of Kagekiyo lover's Akoya [casting].
January 1738: Kikutarô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô-jô-hankichi (superior - superior - half excellent).
November 1742: Sodesaki Kikutarô takes the name of Ichikawa Sadanji I at the Kawarazakiza, playing in the kaomise drama "Gaijin Taiheiki", which celebrates the return and the arrival in Edo of the actors Ichikawa Ebizô II and Onoe Kikugorô I.
January 1743: Sadanji's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent).
Fall 1744: Sadanji goes to Ôsaka, in the company of Ichikawa Danzô III and Tatsuoka Hisagiku.
November 1744: Sadanji plays the role of Hakoômaru in the kaomise drama "Azuma Soga Fujimi no Sato", which is produced by Nakamura Jûzô I at the Ônishi no Shibai.
January 1745: Sadanji's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, is jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent). He shares the same rank as Yoshida Manshirô and Yamatogawa Akashi.
November 1745: Sadanji becomes tachiyaku and plays at the Naka no Shibai the role of the otokodate Chôkichi, in reality Kikuô, in the kaomise drama "Onna Musha Ukisu Gassen". This is most likely his last stage performance. We don't know what happens to him afterwards.
Comments:
Ichikawa Sadanji I was an Edo onnagata, who was active from the middle of the 1720s to the middle of the 1740s. He suddenly became tachiyaku in 1745 but vanished without trace. As an onnagata, he excelled in keisei roles and nuregoto.
The actors Ichikawa Sadanji I (bottom/left) and Yamashita Matatarô I (top/right) playing the roles of Magosaburô's betrothed Okatsu and Magosaburô in the new year drama "Mukashi Komon Yoshiokazome", which was staged in January 1745 at the Ônishi no Shibai
Print made by Okumura Toshinobu around 1731
The Ichikawa Sadanji line of actors