SAKATA TÔJÛRÔ
   
FOUR GENERATIONS
Sakata Tôjûrô I
  The actor Sakata Tôjûrô I held this name from his childhood to the 11th lunar month of 1709.

Sakata Tôjûrô I in the hyôbanki "Ogakuzu" (1699)

Sakata Tôjûrô II
Sakata Tôjûrô II  In Japanese | Sakata Chôzaemon  In Japanese | Kuwana Chôzaemon  In Japanese
 

Born in Kamigata in 1669. He started as a disciple of Sakata Tôjûrô I and performed as a tachiyaku actor in miyaji shibai or inaka shibai in the Kyôto/Nara area. His first stage names were Kuwana Chôzaemon and Sakata Chôzaemon. He took the name of Sakata Tôjûrô II in the 1st lunar month of 1711 in Kyôto, playing in the new year drama "Keisei Nidai Otoko". He most likely retired from ôshibai around 1714 and died the 27th day of the 9th lunar month of 1724 [1]. This actor, who was nicknamed Fushimi Tôjûrô (because he was from the district of Fushimi in Kyôto), was far inferior to his master the great Sakata Tôjûrô I. He was the adoptive father of Sakata Tôjûrô III and the master of Sakata Hangorô I. He might also have been the adoptive father of Sakata Ichitarô [2].

Haimyô Yagô
Sharen Kuwanaya

Shinomiya Heihachi II (left) and Sakata Tôjûrô II (right) playing the roles of Oen and Ôinosuke in the kaomise drama "Toshitokujin Midoribune", which was staged in Kyôto at Ebisuya Hatsudayû's theater in the 1st lunar month of 1714

Sakata Tôjûrô III
  The actor Sakata Tôjûrô III held this name from the 11th lunar month of 1739 to the 8th lunar month of 1774.

Sakata Tôjûrô III playing the role of Danjô Saemon in Namiki Shôzô I's kaomise drama "Genpei Tsûrikimaru", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1764 in Kyôto

Sakata Tôjûrô IV
  The actor Sakata Tôjûrô IV held this name from December 2005 to November 2020.

Sakata Tôjûrô IV playing the role of the Wisteria Maiden in the dance "Fuji Musume" (illustration courtesy of RANCHUROW (2008) all rights reserved)

[1] The 27th day of the 9th lunar month of the 9th year of the Kyôhô era was the 12th of November 1724 in the western calendar.

[2] Sakata Ichitarô was said to be either the adopted son of Sakata Tôjûrô II or a disciple of Sakata Hangorô I. Or maybe both ...

 
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