Stage names:

Iwai Hanshirô VI
Iwai Kumesaburô II
Iwai Hisajirô I

Nickname Kumesa Hanshirô

Guild: Yamatoya

Line number: ROKUDAIME (VI)

Poetry names: Baiga, Shûka

Existence: 1799 ~ 8th day of the 4th lunar month of 1836 ^[1]

Connections:

Great-grandfather : Sawamura Sôjûrô II

Grandfathers: Iwai Hanshirô IV, Sawamura Sôjûrô III

Father: Iwai Hanshirô V

Brother: Iwai Hanshirô VII

Career:

1799: born in Edo.

28th day of the 3rd lunar month of 1800 ^[4]: his grandfather Iwai Hanshirô IV died.

29th day of the 3rd lunar month of 1801 ^[5]: his grandfather Sawamura Sôjûrô III died.

11th lunar month of 1804: he made his first appearance on stage at the Nakamuraza, where he received the name of Iwai Hisajirô I while his father took the name of Iwai Hanshirô V.

11th lunar month of 1812: Hisajirô took the name of Iwai Kumesaburô II at the Ichimuraza.

3rd lunar month of 1814: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's drama "Sumidagawa Hana no Goshozome", commonly called "Onna Seigen"; Kumesaburô played the roles of the okujochû Taketawa and Kariganeya's shinzô Uneme [more details].

7th lunar month of 1814: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's natsu kyôgen "Imaori Hakata no Irifune"; Kumesaburô played the role of the Komachiya musume Osato [casting].

5th lunar month of 1815: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Sakurada Jisuke II's Kiyomoto-based dance-drama "Imayô Suma no Utsushie" (commonly called "Suma no Utsushie"); Kumesaburô played the role of the ama Murasame [casting].

1st lunar month of 1816: premiere at the Kawarasakiza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's new year sogamono drama "Nazoraete Fujigane Soga"; Kumesaburô played the role of Kewaizaka no Shôshô (in reality Soga Gorô Tokimune) [casting].

9th lunar month of 1819: first adaptation to Kabuki (in ôshibai!) of the drama "Seishû Akogi-ga-Ura"; Kumesaburô played the role of Heiji's wife Oharu [casting].

11th lunar month of 1822 ~ 10th lunar month of 1823: the best year of the Iwai Clan; The tateonnagata for the 3 Edo theaters (Edo Sanza) were Iwai Hanshirô V (Ichimuraza), Kumesaburô (Nakamuraza) and Iwai Shijaku I (Moritaza).

1st lunar month of 1825: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's new year sogamono drama "Okuni-iri Soga Nakamura"; Kumesaburô played the roles of Sukedayû's sister Yaeume, Mikazuki Osayo (later Minoya Sankatsu), the tabiya Akaneya's nyôbô Osono, Wada no Maizuru and Oshun [casting].

7th lunar month of 1825: Kumesaburô played at the Nakamuraza the roles of Okaru, Oishi and Osono in the drama "Kanadehon Chûshingura".

7th lunar month of 1825: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's ghost play "Tôkaidô Yotsuya Kaidan"; Kumesaburô played the role of Osode [casting].

9th lunar month of 1825: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's drama "Kamikakete Sango Taisetsu"; Kumesaburô played the roles of Dakki no Koman, Oroku, Moronô's mistress Ran-no-Kata and Kanpei's widow Okaru [casting].

8th lunar month of 1826: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's drama "Soga Nakamura Aki no Torikomi"; Kumesaburô played the roles of Soga Jûrô's goke Matsuyoi, Soga Gorô's goke Izayoi, the Maizuruya shinzô Asagao and Inaba Kôzô (in reality the geisha Koina) [casting].

6th lunar month of 1827: premiere at the Kawarasakiza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's drama "Hitori Tabi Gojûsan Tsugi"; Kumesaburô played the roles of Ôe's daughter Princess Shigenoi (later the hinin Koman), the keisei Komurasaki and Minbunosuke's wife Onobu [casting].

9th lunar month of 1827: Kumesaburô played at the Ichimuraza the role of Otoku in the drama "Keisei Hangonkô"; his stage partners were Ichikawa Danjûrô VII (Matahei), Ichimura Uzaemon XII (Utanosuke), Ichimura Uzaemon XII (Shurinosuke) and Kataoka Nizaemon VII (Shôgen).

3rd lunar month of 1831: premiere at the Nakamuraza of the five-role hengemono "Rokkasen Sugata no Irodori"; Kumesaburô played the role of Ono no Komachi [more details].

11th lunar month of 1832: great shûmei for the Iwai clan at the Nakamuraza; Iwai Hanshirô V, Iwai Kumesaburô II and Iwai Hisajirô II respectively took the names of Iwai Tojaku, Iwai Hanshirô VI and Iwai Kumesaburô III. They performed together in Segawa Jokô II's drama "Goban Tadanobu Yuki no Kuroshiro" and their stage partners were Matsumoto Kôshirô V, Nakamura Shikan II, Ichikawa Yaozô IV and Sawamura Tosshô I.

1st lunar month of 1833: Hanshirô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was (shiro)itaru-jô-jô-kichi ((white) unique - superior - superior - excellent) [Visual]. Hanshirô moved to the Kawarasakiza where he played the roles of Maizuru and Ôiso no Tora in the new year sogamono drama "Fuji o Ôgi to Mimasu Soga".

3rd lunar month of 1833: Hanshirô played at the Kawarasakiza the roles of Kaoyo Gozen, Oyoshi, Sonokichi and Tonase in the drama "Kanadehon Chûshingura" ^[3].

11th lunar month of 1833: Hanshirô performed at the Moritaza in the kaomise drama "Shitennô Kabuki no Yorizome", which celebrated the reopening of this theater; his stage partners were Ichikawa Ebizô V, Bandô Mitsugorô III, Iwai Tojaku, Ichikawa Danjûrô VIII, Sawamura Tosshô I, Iwai Kumesaburô III, Bandô Minosuke II, Bandô Tamasaburô I and Ôtani Tomoemon IV.

1st lunar month of 1834: Hanshirô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual].

5th lunar month of 1834: Hanshirô played at the Nakamuraza the roles of Kaoyo Gozen and Okaru in the drama "Kanadehon Chûshingura". From the 25th day, he played at the Moritaza the roles of Sadaka and Omiwa in the drama "Imoseyama Onna Teikin".

11th lunar month of 1834: Hanshirô performed at the Moritaza in the kaomise drama "Hana to Mitsu Yuki no Shiraishi".

1st lunar month of 1835: Hanshirô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was (shiro)ô-jô-jô-kichi ((white) grand - superior - superior - excellent) [Visual].

11th lunar month of 1835: Hanshirô performed at the Moritaza in the kaomise drama "Hanayagura Kabuki no Jintori", which celebrated the shûmei of Ichikawa Kuzô II and Bandô Zenkô.

1st lunar month of 1836: Hanshirô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, wakaonnagata section, was (shiro)ô-jô-jô-kichi ((white) grand - superior - superior - excellent) [Visual].

2nd lunar month of 1836: Hanshirô appeared on stage for the last time, in Edo at the Moritaza, where he played 15 roles ^[6] in the drama "Sugawara-ryû Kanagaki Soga", which mixed the "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami", "Kanadehon Chûshingura" and sogamono worlds. He suddenly fell ill in the middle of the month.

8th day of the 4th lunar month of 1836 ^[1]: Hanshirô died in Edo ^[2].

Comments:

Iwai Hanshirô VI was a talented wakaonnagata, who achieved fame for himself in Edo during the first half of the nineteenth century. His popularity was high (as high as the one of Segawa Kikunojô V in the 1820s) but he unfortunately died too young, before reaching the peak of his career. As far as art was concerned, he followed the same path as his father Iwai Tojaku or his grandfather Iwai Hanshirô IV but he did not create his own.

[1] The 8th day of the 4th lunar month of the 7th year of the Tenpô era was the 22nd of May 1836 in the western calendar.

[2] Iwai Hanshirô VI's tombstone was located in the cemetery of the Jôshinji Temple in the district of Fukagawa.

[3] This was a special expanded version of "Kanadehon Chûshingura" with new scenes written by Mimasuya Nisôji and Shinoda Kinji II and it was also the premiere of "Ochiudo".

[4] The 28th day of the 3rd lunar month of the 12th year of the Kansei era was the 21st of April 1800 in the western calendar.

[5] The 29th day of the 3rd lunar month of the 1st year of the Kyôwa era was the 11th of May 1801 in the western calendar.

[6] He played the roles of Konami, Sakuramaru, Sadakurô, Soga Gorô Tokimune, Princess Kariya, Okaru, Kaoyo Gozen, Yae, Tonase, Oniô Shinzaemon's wife Izayoi...

Iwai Hanshirô VI playing the role of Oshichi in the drama "Sugawara-ryû Kanagaki Soga", which was staged in the 2nd lunar month of 1836 at the Moritaza (print made by Utagawa Kunisada I)

Prints & Illustrations

Print made by Utagawa Toyokuni in 1820

Print made by Utagawa Kunisada in 1825

Print made by Utagawa Kunisada in 1832

Print made by Utagawa Kuniyoshi in 1834

The Iwai Hisajirô line of actors

The Iwai Kumesaburô line of actors

The Iwai Hanshirô line of actors