Stage names:
Nakamura Gyoraku I
Nakamura Sukegorô II
Sengoku Sukeji
Guild: Sengokuya
Line number: NIDAIME (II)
Poetry name: Gyoraku
Existence: 1745 ~ 29 October 1806
Connections:
Grandfather: Sengoku Hikosuke I
Father: Nakamura Sukegorô I
Adopted son: Nakamura Sukegorô III
Disciples: Nakamura Gyoraku II, Nakamura Sukezô, Nakamura Senji
Career:
1745 ~ 1761: his father gives him the name of Sengoku Sukeji at an unknown date. They go on tour together in Kamigata and it is said that he most likely did his training there.
November 1761: Sengoku Sukeji becomes katakiyaku and plays at the Moritaza in the kaomise drama "Misonô Banzei no Hachinoki".
13 July 1763: his father Nakamura Sukegorô I dies.
November 1763: Sengoku Sukeji takes the name of Nakamura Sukegorô II at the Moritaza, playing in the kaomise drama "Ume ya Suisen Izu no Irifune".
November 1766: Sukegorô plays at the Ichimuraza the role of the villain Shimamura Danjô in the kaomise program "Higashiyama Dono Kabuki no Tsuitachi".
July 1768: the play "Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami" is produced for the first time at the Nakamuraza; Sukegorô plays the role of Danshichi Kurobei [casting].
May 1774: the play "Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami" is produced for the first time at the Ichimuraza; Sukegorô plays the role of Tsuribune Sabu [casting].
March 1776: first Kabuki adaptation of Matsu Kanshi I's puppet theater drama "Koi Musume Mukashi Hachijô", which is staged at the Nakamuraza; Sukegorô plays the role of Tsukudaya Kizô [casting].
Summer 1777: the book "Yakusha Sensakuron" ("About actors prying") is published in Edo. It gives some private information on actors. Edo readers learn that Sukegorô lives in the district of Izumi-chô, his wife Oichi is an ex-courtesan from the pleasure quarter of Fukagawa and his yearly salary is 500 ryô.
January 1778: the drama "Imoseyama Onna Teikin" is staged for the first time in Edo, at the Moritaza; Sukegorô plays the roles of Fukashichi and Emiji [casting].
November 1781: Sukegorô plays at the Ichimuraza the roles of the yakko Tanihei and the villain Iwato Saemon in the kaomise drama "Mukashi Otoko Yuki no Hinagata".
November 1790: Sukegorô plays at the Kawarazakiza in the kaomise drama "Daidan Kanjinchô".
November 1798: Sukegorô plays at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Hana no Mimasu Yoshino no Fukayuki". He also becomes the tôdori of this theater.
November 1803: Nakamura Sukegorô II and his adopted son Nakamura Sukeji II respectively take the names of Nakamura Gyoraku and Nakamura Sukegorô III; Gyoraku retires and dies a few years later, the 29th of October 1806.
Comments:
Nakamura Sukegorô II was a talented katakiyaku, the worthy heir of his father Nakamura Sukegorô I. He was endowed with a great voice and his vocal projection was perfect.
Nakamura Sukegorô II playing the role of Danshichi Kurobei in the drama "Natsu Matsuri Naniwa Kagami", which was staged in July 1768 at the Nakamuraza (print made by Katsukawa Shunshô)
Print made by Katsukawa Shunshô in 1768
The Nakamura Sukegorô line of actors
