Stage names:

Nakamura Kanjaku III
Arashi Kakuzô I

Guild: Narikomaya

Line number: SANDAIME (III)

Poetry name: Shishô

Existence: 1841 ~ 3 February 1881

Connections:

Adoptive father: Nakamura Utaemon IV

Son: Nakamura Ganjirô I

Grandsons: Nakamura Ganjirô II, Hayashi Mataichirô II

Great-grandsons: Sakata Tôjûrô IV (Nakamura Ganjirô III), Nakamura Kikaku I

Great-great-grandsons: Nakamura Ganjirô IV, Nakamura Senjaku III, Nakamura Kikaku II

Great-great-great-grandsons: Nakamura Kazutarô, Nakamura Toranosuke

Career:

1841 ~ 1852: born in Ôsaka. His father is a policeman. He joins a troupe of children-actors (kodomo shibai) at the age of 11, playing under the name of Arashi Kakuzô I.

1st lunar month of 1852: Kakuzô is adopted by Nakamura Utaemon IV.

2nd lunar month of 1852: his adoptive father Nakamura Utaemon IV dies.

3rd lunar month of 1860: birth of his son. Kakuzô's lover Otae is the daughter and heir of the Ôgiya house, one of the most famous and prestigious brothels in Ôsaka. It is impossible for the couple to get married and Kakuzô has to leave Otae and his son.

1st lunar month of 1861: the actor Nakamura Kanjaku II dies.

8th lunar month of 1863: Arashi Kakuzô I takes the name of Nakamura Kanjaku III at the Ônishi no Shibai, playing the role of Hayase Genjirô in the drama "Tengajaya".

9th lunar month of 1868: Kanjaku plays at the Kita-Horie Ichi-no-Gawa Shibai (Ôsaka) the role of Hachiman Tarô in the "Sodehagi Saimon" scene of the drama "Ôshû Adachi-ga-Hara"; his stage partners are Nakamura Sôjûrô (Sodehagi), Arashi Hinasuke VI (Abe no Sadatô) and Jitsukawa Enjaku I (Abe no Munetô). The same play is staged with the same casting in the 11th lunar month of 1868 at the Minamigawa no Shibai.

Winter 1870: Kanjaku settles in Tôkyô.

1st lunar month of 1871: Kanjaku plays at the Moritaza the role of Miuranosuke in the drama "Kamakura Sandaiki".

10th lunar month of 1872: premiere at the Moritaza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's zangirimono "Tsuki no En Masu no Igaguri"; Kanjaku plays the role of Seikichi [casting].

January 1875: premiere at the Shintomiza of Kawatake Shinshichi II's drama "Ôgi Byôshi Ôoka Seidan" (commonly called "Ten'ichibô"); Kanjaku played the roles of the Kannôin servant Kyûsuke, Tokugawa Tsunaeda and Ikeda Daisuke [casting].

June 1875: Kanjaku plays at the Shintomiza in the drama "Meiji Nenkan Azuma Nikki".

Summer 1875 Kanjaku goes back to Ôsaka.

March 1876: Kanjaku plays at the Matsushima Shibai (Ôsaka) the role of Onoenosuke in the drama "Keisei Jidai Kagami".

1877: reunion with his son Ganjirô.

March 1878: his son takes the name of Nakamura Ganjirô I, playing together with his father in the drama "Seinan Yume Monogatari", which is staged in Ôsaka at the Ebisuza.

April 1879: tour in Shikoku.

August 1879: second stay in Tôkyô; Kanjaku takes part in the opening ceremony of the Hisamatsuza [details].

1880: Kanjaku goes back to Ôsaka.

October 1880: Kanjaku achieves a great success at the Ebisuza playing 4 roles in the drama "Sensui no Tsuki Utsushi no Omokage".

January 1881: Kanjaku appears on stage for the last time, in Kobe at the Kikusuiza, where he plays the role of Ôoka Echizen in the drama "Ten'ichibô Ôoka Seidan". He suddenly falls ill and dies in February.

Comments:

Nakamura Kanjaku III was a talented Kamigata actor, who was able to play tachiyaku or onnagata roles and was equally at home in sewamono and jidaimono dramas. Wagotoshi or toshima roles were his forte.

Nakamura Kanjaku III playing the role of Chienai in the drama "Kiichi Hôgen Sanryaku no Maki" (print made by Toyohara Kunichika in 1880)

Print made by Toyohara Kunichika in 1874

The Nakamura Kanjaku line of actors