Stage names:
Kagaya Kashichi I
Nakamura Utaemon I
Nakamura Utanosuke I
Other name: Nakamura Kashichi I
Guild: Kagaya
Line number: SHODAI (I)
Poetry name: Issen
Existence: 1714 ~ 29 October 1791
Connections:
Master: Nakamura Genjûrô
Son: Nakamura Utaemon III
Grandson: Nakamura Hashinosuke I
Great-grandson: Nakamura Shikan III
Great-great-grandsons: Nakamura Tamashichi I, Nakamura Tsurusuke V
Disciples: Nakamura Rikô I, Nakamura Utaemon II
Career:
1714: born in Kanazawa in the Kaga province. His father is a renowned physician.
1730: he becomes disciple of Nakamura Genjûrô - the adopted son of the Kamigata actor Nakamura Genzaemon I, who was a disciple of Nakamura Shichisaburô I's disciple Nakamura Sen'ya I and later on became a playwright named Takagi Richû - who gives him the name of Nakamura Utanosuke I.
1741: Nakamura Utanosuke I takes the name of Nakamura Utaemon I in Ise.
1742: Utaemon achieves a great success in Ise at the Furuichi Shibai by playing in the drama "Shin Usuyuki Monogatari".
November 1742: Utaemon goes to Kyôto and plays in the kaomise drama "Ômi Genji Taihei no Kachidoki", which is produced by Hanakawa Ichinojô at Hayagumo Chôdayû's theater.
August 1748: première in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai of the drama "Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura"; Utaemon plays the roles of Igami no Gonta and Benkei [casting].
November 1748: Utaemon plays in Namiki Shôzô I's kaomise drama "Fuyugomori Tsumagoi Ikusa", which is produced by Bandô Toyosaburô at the Naka no Shibai.
November 1749: Utaemon plays at the Ônishi no Shibai in the drama "Kotobuki Kogane no Kachi Ikusa", which is produced by Mimasu Daigorô I.
December 1750: Utaemon plays at the Naka no Shibai the role of Fuwa Banzaemon in the drama "Keisei Tôyama Zakura" (similar to Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Keisei Hangonkô"), which is produced by the zamoto Nakamura Jûzô I for the nadai Shioya Kuroemon [casting].
March 1757: Utaemon goes to Edo and plays at the Ichimuraza the roles of Shunkan and Nagata no Tarô in the drama "Keisei Kikaigashimabara".
Fall 1761: Utaemon goes back to Kamigata.
November 1761: Utaemon plays at the Naka no Shibai 2 roles in the kaomise drama "Miyo no Hana Yunzei Kagami", which is produced by Mimasu Daigorô I.
April 1762: first Kabuki adaptation of the 5-act puppet theater drama "Gosho Zakura Horikawa no Youchi", which is staged at the Naka no Shibai; Utaemon plays the role of Benkei [casting].
September 1762: Utaemon plays in the same theater the roles of Igami no Gonta and Yokawa no Zenji Kakuhan in the drama "Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura".
May 1766: first Kabuki adaptation of the puppet theater drama "Honchô Nijûshikô", which is performed in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai; Utaemon plays the role of Sekibei [casting].
November 1766: Utaemon produces at the Naka no Shibai in Namiki Jûsuke's kaomise drama "Yamato Uta Hikime no Yaguruma".
December 1770: premiere at the Naka no Shibai of Namiki Shôzô's drama "Kuwanaya Tokuzô Irifune Monogatari"; Utaemon plays the role of Kuwanaya Tokuzô [casting].
August 1771: Utaemon plays at the Naka no Shibai the roles of Daihanji no Kiyosumi and Soga no Iruka in the drama "Imoseyama Onna Teikin" [casting].
July 1772: Utaemon plays the roles of Shunkan and Kajiwara in the drama "Kachidoki Heike Monogatari" (similar to Chikamatsu Monzaemon's drama "Heike Nyogo-ga-Shima"), which is produced by Ichiyama Sukegorô I at the Naka no Shibai; his stage partners are Ichiyama Tomisaburô (Chidori), Fujikawa Hachizô I (Tanzaemon) and Nakamura Shirogorô IV (Senoo Tarô).
November 1772: Utaemon becomes zamoto and produces at the Naka no Shibai the kaomise drama "Onoe Kikugorô no Baranu Banashi".
December 1776: premiere at the Naka no Shibai of Nagawa Kamesuke I's drama "Igagoe Norikake Gappa"; Utaemon plays the roles of Sawai Shirogorô and Daihachi [casting].
April 1777: premiere in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai of Nagawa Kamesuke I's drama "Meiboku Sendai Hagi"; Utaemon plays the role of Kajiwara Kagetoki [casting].
September 1778: Utaemon plays at the Naka no Shibai the role of Matsuômaru in the drama "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami", which is produced by the zamoto Ichiyama Tajirô; his stage partners are Arashi Kichisaburô I (Shiratayû, Genzô, Terukuni), Yamashita Kamenojô IV (Tatsuta, Haru), Sawamura Kunitarô I (Tonami, Kakuju, Yae), Arashi Shichisaburô II (Umeômaru), Bandô Iwagorô (Shihei, Shundô Genba), Mimasu Tokujirô I (Kan Shôjô, Chiyo), Arashi Sangorô II (Sakuramaru) and Nakamura Jiroza II (Hyôe, Mareyo).
December 1781: premiere in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai of Nagawa Kamesuke's drama "Tengajaya-Mura" [casting]. A similar play is staged a few days later under a different title, "Renga Chaya Homare no Bundai", at the Naka no Shibai. The competition for the best performance and the best line-up is open between the 2 theaters; Utaemon plays at the Naka no Shibai the roles of Kakogawa Kyûbei and Kataoka Miki-no-Kami [casting].
November 1782: Nakamura Utaemon I and his disciple Nakamura Tôzô I respectively take the names of Kagaya Kashichi I and Nakamura Utaemon II; the former Utaemon celebrates his shûmei in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai and the latter in Kyôto. Kashichi plays the role of Kajiwara Heizô Kagetoki in the drama "Zu ni Notta Bankoku Tokai".
September 1783: the play "Igagoe Dôchû Sugoroku" is adapted to Kabuki for the first time, in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai; Kashichi plays the roles of Sawai Shirogorô, Heisaku and the doctor Takenaka Zeitaku [casting].
March 1787: premiere at the Naka no Shibai of Namiki Gohei I's drama "Taikô Shinkenki", a play similar to "Hikosan Gongen Chikai no Sukedachi"; Kashichi plays the role of Mokusokan [casting].
December 1788: Kashichi makes his isse ichidai performance in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai, playing the roles of Akizuki Daizen and Masamune in the drama "Shin Usuyuki Monogatari", which is produced by Ichiyama Tajirô. His stage partners are Kanô Hinasuke I (Dankurô), Seki Sanjûrô I (Tsumahei), Yamashita Kinsaku II (Magaki), Ichiyama Tajirô (Princess Usuyuki), Nakamura Kumenosuke (Saemon), Bandô Iwagorô (Shibukawa Tôma), Kataoka Nizaemon VII (Kunikurô), Yamashita Yaozô I (Oren) and Yamamura Giemon II (Rai Kuniyuki).
Fall 1789: Kashichi appears on stage for the last time, in Kyôto at Miyako Mandayû's theater, playing the role of Tatara Shindôzaemon in the drama "Mannengusa Imose no Furisode".
Comments:
"This first Utaemon was the son of a physician, who had led a life of dissipation and finally took to the stage. He kept steadfastly to one specialty, that of katakiyaku, or villain rôles. When he played in Edo he was well received, but on a visit to Ôsaka, he said something on the stage which offended his audience, and they returned the compliment by giving him the cold shoulder for some time. The famous bad characters of the doll-dramas he made his own, particularly the heavy villain Iruka, the formidable tyrant in "Imoseyama", and the evil-doing but loyal Gonta of "Sembon Zakura", two characters that modern audiences are never tired of seeing portrayed." (Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan")
Nakamura Utaemon in a print made by Katsukawa Shunshô
Nakamura Utaemon I's illustrations
Print made by Ippitsusai Bunchô (1758~1760)
Print made by Katsukawa Shunshô in 1769
The Nakamura Utaemon line of actors