ICHIMURAZA SOGAMONO 1755


Play titles	Kodakara Aigo Soga Imayô Ninin Sukeroku
Theater	Ichimuraza
Producers	Ichimura Uzaemon VIII, Ichimura Kamezô I
Playwrights	Horikoshi Nisôji I, Nakamura Seizaburô II

The new year sogamono drama "Kodakara Aigo Soga" was produced by Ichimura Uzaemon VIII and Ichimura Kamezô I and was staged in the 1st lunar month of 1755 in Edo at the Ichimuraza with the following casting:

Code	Actors	Roles
1	Onoe Kikugorô I	Kudô Saemon Suketsune
2	Bandô Hikosaburô II	???
3	Ôtani Hiroji II	Oniô Shinzaemon
4	Ichimura Kamezô I	Soga Jûrô Sukenari
5	Nakamura Kumetarô I	The courtesan Ôiso no Tora (Jûrô's lover)
6	Sawamura Sôjûrô II	Rokudai Gozen
7	Ogino Yaegiri II	Tsukisayo
8	Onoe Kikugorô I	Kudô Saemon Suketsune
9	Nakamura Kiyosaburô I	Soga Gorô Tokimune
10	Ichimura Uzaemon VIII	The ghost of Tamae Gozen
11	Onoe Kikugorô I	Kudô Saemon Suketsune
12	Yorozuya Matazô	???
13	Nakamura Kumetarô I	The courtesan Ôiso no Tora (Jûrô's lover)
14	Sakata Hangorô II	Mokuzu Sanpei, in reality Higuchi no Jirô
15	Sawamura Sôjûrô II	Rokudai Gozen
16	Ôtani Hiroji II	Nuregami Chôgorô, in reality Tezuka Tarô
17	Nakamura Kiyosaburô I	Sanemori's daughter, later the keisei Shinobara

Others actors in identified roles were:

Actors	Roles
Nakajima Mihoemon I	Kudô's kerai Hige no Ikyû
Arashi Otohachi I	Danzaburô (Gorô's retainer), Nuregami Chôgorô's father
Osagawa Tsuneyo I	The keisei Chisato
Bandô Sanpachi I	Kobayashi no Asahina
Ichimura Uzaemon VIII	Kyô no Jirô
Sawamura Sôjûrô II	The Makiya tedai Shirobê
Fujimura Hanjûrô II	Kajiwara Genta Kagesue
Ogino Daikichi	The courtesan Kewaizaka no Shôshô (Gorô's lover)

Onoe Kikugorô I played the role of Kudô Saemon Suketsune for the first time in his career.

"Sukeroku" was staged within this new year drama under the title "Imayô Ninin Sukeroku" (literally "Two Sukerokus in Modern Style". It was a version with two Sukerokus instead of one. Ichimura Kamezô I, Nakamura Kiyosaburô I, Nakamura Kumetarô I and Nakajima Mihoemon I played the roles of Sukeroku (in reality Soga Jûrô Sukenari), Sukeroku (in reality Soga Gorô Tokimune), Agemaki (in reality Ôiso no Tora) and Hige no Ikyû. It was staged with a Handayû Bushi musical accompaniment which was written by Edo Handayû II and Sakamoto Ryôun.

The opening day was the 15th day of the 1st lunar month of the 5th year of the Hôreki era (1755), which was the 2nd of March 1779 in the western calendar.