Others names:

Ikki
Nijuban Kichibê
Uguisu Kichibê

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Existence: 1684 ~ 17th day of the 8th lunar month of 1765

Connection:

Master: Nakamura Denkurô I

Son: Nakamura Kichizô I

Career:

Before 1713: he starts his career not as an actor but as a taiko mochi. He uses different names like Ikki, Nijuban Kichibê or Uguisu Kichibê. He takes part in the 11th lunar month of 1700 in a kôjô with Ichikawa Danjûrô I on the stage of the Nakamuraza. To learn the art of acting, he becomes a disciple of Nakamura Denkurô I.

25th day of the 10th lunar month of 1713: his master Nakamura Denkurô I dies.

11th lunar month of 1713: he makes his first appearance on a Kabuki stage, taking the name of Nakamura Kichibê I and performing at the Moritaza in the kaomise drama "Yorimasa Taikyoku no Mato".

11th lunar month of 1714: Kichibê plays at the Moritaza the role of Katsuta no Jirô in the kaomise drama "Onna Ryûko Futatsu Gashira".

1st lunar month of 1715: Kichibê's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1717: Kichibê plays at the Nakamuraza the role of the uekiya Chôzô in the kaomise drama "Hachinoki Hônen Mitsugimono".

11th lunar month of 1724: Kichibê plays at the Ichimuraza in the kaomise drama "Bankoku Taiheiki"; his stage partners are Ichikawa Danzô I, Tomizawa Hanzaburô I, Ogino Izaburô I, Matsushima Hyôtarô, Ogawa Zengorô I, Sodesaki Miwano I, Mimasuya Sukejûrô I, Fujimura Handayû II, Nakajima Mihoemon I and Kamakura Chôkurô II.

11th lunar month of 1731: Kichibê becomes dôkegata and plays at the Ichimuraza the role of Yamanaka Shikanosuke in the kaomise drama "Higashiyama Dono Eiga Butai".

1st lunar month of 1732: Kichibê's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, dôkegata section, falls to jô-jô-(shiro)hankichi (superior - superior - (white) half excellent).

11th lunar month of 1733: Kichibê achieves a great success at the Nakamuraza by playing the role of Soga no Tarô in the kaomise drama "Nagi no Hana Asahi Genji"; his stage partners are Sawamura Sôjûrô I, Anegawa Shinshirô I, Segawa Kikunojô I, Ogino Izaburô I, Hayakawa Denshirô, Nakamura Shichisaburô II, Sodesaki Iseno I, Ichikawa Sôzaburô I, Narumi Goroshirô I, Sakata Sadashirô, Yamashita Kamematsu I, Sanjô Kantarô II and Ôtani Ryûzaemon I.

1st lunar month of 1734: Kichibê's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, dôkegata section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent), sharing the same rank with Tsuruya Nanboku I.

11th lunar month of 1734: Kichibê plays at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Kyôganoko Secchû no Tamatori", which celebrates the arrival in Edo of the Kamigata actor Nakamura Shingorô I.

11th lunar month of 1736: Kichibê plays at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise drama "Kuni no Tomi Sesshôseki"; his stage partners are Ôtani Hiroji I, Segawa Kikunojô I, Segawa Kikujirô I, Nakajima Mihoemon I, Arashi Otohachi I, Narumi Goroshirô I, Hayakawa Denshirô, Ogino Izaburô I and Kameya Jûjirô (who arrives from Kamigata).

11th lunar month of 1737: the play "Dan no Ura Kabuto Gunki" is staged for the first time in Edo, at the Kawarasakiza, as a kaomise drama entitled "Urûzuki Ninin Kagekiyo"; Kichibê plays the role of Yatôta [casting].

11th lunar month of 1738: Kichibê plays at the Kawarasakiza the role of Korehiro in the kaomise drama "Kotobuki Momiji Kagemasa", which celebrates the arrival in Edo of the Kamigata actors Bandô Toyosaburô I and Tomizawa Tatsunosuke.

24th day of the 4th lunar month of 1739: his son Nakamura Kichizô I dies. This sudden death is a terrible blow for Kichibê, who decides to retire from the Kabuki world to make his grieving process.

17th day of the 8th lunar month of 1765: Kichibê dies in Edo; his tombstone is located in the cemetery of the Jôzaiji temple of the Yanaka district.

Comments:

Nakamura Kichibê I was a talented and popular Edo actor, who started his adult life as a taiko mochi, worked as a Kabuki actor from the 1710s to the 1730s and became again a taiko mochi at the beginning of the 1740s. He was a tachiyaku in the 1710s and the 1720s but achieved fame for himself as a dôkegata in the 1730s. He was an outstanding dancer and became famous for the creation of the dance entitled "Daijinmai" (the Dance of the Millionaires), which was created for the Shin-Yoshiwara patron Kinokuniya Bunzaemon, a famous merchant from Wakayama Prefecture who made his fortune in shipping trade and spent a lot of money in the pleasure quarter.

Nakamura Kichibê I (bottom/left), his son Nakamura Kichizô I (top/left) and Nakamura Shichisaburô II (top/right) playing the roles of Yatôta, Princess Hitomaru and Chichibu no Korokurô in the kaomise drama "Urûzuki Ninin Kagekiyo", which was staged in the 11th lunar month of 1737 at the Kawarasakiza