Stage names:

Seki Sanjûrô V
Seki Hanasuke II

Real name: Seki Tominari

Guild: Owariya

Line number: GODAIME (V)

Poetry name: Kazan

Existence: 1879 ~ 25 February 1931

Connection:

Father: Seki Sanjûrô IV

Adopted son: Seki Sanjûrô VI

Disciples: Seki Hananosuke, Owariya Umenosuke, Seki Matsuzô

Career:

1879: born in Tôkyô in the district of Hongô Haruki-chô.

May 1885: first stage appearance, at the Ichimuraza, where he receives the name of Seki Hanasuke II and plays the role of Chiyomatsu in the drama "Onabake Inari Tsuki no Oboroyo".

10 July 1889: his father Seki Sanjûrô IV dies.

February 1900: Hanasuke plays at the Engiza (Tôkyô) the role of Genjirô in the drama "Tengajaya"; his stage partners are Nakamura Shikaku I (Iori), Sawamura Tosshi VII (Motoemon and Kôemon) and Ichikawa Danzô VII (Tôma Saburôemon).

March 1903: Hanasuke plays at the Misonoza (Nagoya) the role of Iwanaga Saemon in the drama "Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki"; the roles of Shigetada and Akoya are played by Sawamura Tosshi VII and Sawamura Sônosuke I.

March 1907: Seki Hanasuke II takes the name of Seki Sanjûrô V at the Meijiza, playing the role of the ground spider in the drama "Kumo no Ito".

April 1908: Sanjûrô plays at the Engiza the role of Saitô Bettô Sanemori in the drama "Sanemori Monogatari".

1909: Sanjûrô purchases the Kokkaza, a koshibai venue, and renames it later on the Hôraiza. He is both the zamoto and the zagashira of this theater.

June 1911: Sanjûrô plays at the Hôraiza the role of Danshichi Kurobê in the drama "Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami"; the roles of Issun Tokubê and Tsurigane Sabu are played by Sawamura Denjirô and Nakamura Baijaku I.

25 February 1931: Sanjûrô dies in Tôkyô.

Comments:

Seki Sanjûrô V was a tachiyaku actor, who spent the best years of his career in Tôkyô koshibai, performing in venues like the Asakusaza (which became the Hôraiza when he managed it for a few years in the 1910s), the Engiza, the Azumaza or the Waseda Gekijô. His forte were jitsugotoshi roles in jidaimono dramas. He was quite popular in his prime and was often compared to Ichikawa Danjûrô IX (not only because of a certain physical resemblance). He unfortunately lost his fame in his latter years.

Seki Sanjûrô V

The Seki Hanasuke line of actors

The Seki Sanjûrô line of actors