Real name: Namino Tatsujirô

Guild: Harimaya

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Poetry name: Shûzan

Existence: 24 March 1886 ~ 5 September 1954

Connections:

Grandfather: Nakamura Karoku I

Father: Nakamura Karoku III

Brothers: Nakamura Kanzaburô XVII, Nakamura Tokizô III

Adopted son: Nakamura Kichiemon II

Grandsons: Matsumoto Hakuô II (Kôshirô IX), Nakamura Kichiemon II

Great-grandson: Matsumoto Kôshirô X

Great-great-grandsons: Ichikawa Somegorô VIII, Onoe Ushinosuke VII

Career:

1886: born in Tôkyô in the district of Asakusa. His mother is the daughter of a shibai jaya owner named Yorozuya Kichiemon.

1897: he makes his first stage appearance, at the Asakusaza, where he receives the name of Nakamura Kichiemon I and quickly becomes the zagashira of a troupe of children-actors (kodomo shibai).

September 1898: Kichiemon plays at the Asakusaza the role of Motoemon in the drama "Tengajaya-mura".

1902: Kichiemon joins the Kabukiza and receives the teachings of the star Ichikawa Danjûrô IX.

Fall 1908: beginning of a new golden age for the Ichimuraza with the kikukichi duo.

March 1910: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the kyôgen "Hanago", adapted for Kabuki by Okamura Shikô and staged under the title "Migawari Zazen"; Kichiemon plays the role of Tarôkaja [casting].

April 1910: premiere at the Kabukiza of "Yuki no Yûbe Iriya no Azemichi", a few scenes taken from "Kumo ni Magou Ueno no Hatsuhana" focusing on Kataoka Naojirô and his lover Michitose and staged independently from the rest of the play; Kichiemon plays the role of Kurayami no Ushimatsu [casting].

September 1914: premiere at the Ichimuraza of Furukawa Shinsui's drama "Ansei Kibun Tsukuda no Yoarashi"; Kichiemon plays the role of Kamiya Genzô [more details].

January 1916: premiere at the Ichimuraza of the kyôgen "Bô Shibari", which is adapted to kabuki by Okamura Shikô; Kichiemon plays the role of the daimyô Sone Matsubê [casting]. He also plays the role of Ishikawa Goemon in the drama "Sanmon Gosan no Kiri"; the role of Mashiba Hisayoshi is played by Onoe Kikugorô VI.

February 1920: Kichiemon plays at the Ichimuraza the role of Obô Kichisa in the drama "Sannin Kichisa". His stage partners are Onoe Kikugorô VI (Oshô Kichisa) and Sawamura Sônosuke I (Ojô Kichisa).

Beginning of 1921: Kichiemon leaves the Ichimuraza to join the Shôchiku Company, bringing the age of the kikukichi duo to an end.

January 1926: Kichiemon plays at the Hongôza the role of Mashiba Hisayoshi in the drama "Sanmon"; the role of Ishikawa Goemon is played by Ichikawa Chûsha VII.

April 1926: Kichiemon plays at the Hongôza the roles of Yuranosuke and Senzaki Yagorô in the classic "Kanadehon Chûshingura".

July 1926: premiere at the Kabukiza of Okamoto Kidô's drama "Gonza to Sukejû"; Kichiemon plays the role of the landlord Rokurobê [casting].

September 1926: Kichiemon plays at the Kabukiza the role of Motoemon in the drama "Tengajaya-mura". His stage partners are Ichikawa Chûsha VII (Tôma Saburôemon), Sawamura Sôjûrô VII (Iori), Bandô Mitsugorô VII (Yasuke, Kôemon) and Nakamura Fukusuke V (Genjirô).

October 1927: revival at the Hongôza of Tsuruya Nanboku IV's masterpiece "Sakura Hime Azuma Bunshô", produced under the title "Kiyomizudera Azuma Bunshô", which has not been staged since 3rd lunar month of 1817; Kichiemon plays the role of Seigen [casting].

March 1928: premiere at the Hongôza of Oka Onitarô's drama "Nemuru-ga-Rakuda Monogatari"; Kichiemon plays the role of the kamikuzu-kai Kyûroku [casting].

April 1928: Kichiemon plays at the Meijiza the role of Matsuômaru in "Terakoya". His stage partners are Onoe Kikugorô VI (Genzô), Nakamura Tokizô III (Chiyo) and Onoe Taganojô III (Tonami).

January 1931: Kichiemon plays at the Tôkyô Gekijô the role of Genzô in "Terakoya". His stage partners are Onoe Kikugorô VI (Matsuômaru), Nakamura Fukusuke V (Chiyo) and Onoe Taganojô III (Tonami).

February 1932: Kichiemon plays at the Tôkyô Gekijô the role of Obô Kichisa in the drama "Sannin Kichisa". His stage partners are Onoe Kikugorô VI (Oshô Kichisa) and Ichimura Uzaemon XV (Ojô Kichisa).

April 1932: Kichiemon plays at the Tôkyô Gekijô the role of Matsuômaru in "Terakoya". His stage partners are Onoe Kikugorô VI (Genzô), Nakamura Tokizô III (Chiyo) and Onoe Taganojô III (Tonami).

October 1933: premiere at the Tôkyô Gekijô of Yoshida Genjirô's drama "Nijô-jô no Kiyomasa"; Kichiemon plays the role of Katô Kiyomasa [more details].

February 1934: premiere at the Kabukiza of "Ôishi Saigo no Ichinichi", the tenth and last play of Mayama Seika's cycle "Genroku Chûshingura"; Kichiemon plays the role of Araki Jûzaemon [casting].

April 1936: Kichiemon plays at the Kabukiza the role of Genzô in "Terakoya". His stage partners are Onoe Kikugorô VI (Matsuômaru), Nakamura Tokizô III (Tonami) and Nakamura Baigyoku III (Chiyo).

May 1938: Kichiemon plays at the Kabukiza the role of Matsuômaru in "Terakoya". His stage partners are Onoe Kikugorô VI (Genzô), Onoe Kikujirô IV (Tonami) and Sawamura Tosshô IV (Chiyo).

January 1939: Kichiemon plays at the Kabukiza the role of Genzô in "Terakoya". His stage partners are Onoe Kikugorô VI (Matsuômaru), Nakamura Tokizô III (Chiyo) and Ichikawa Omezô IV (Tonami).

April 1939: Kichiemon plays at the Ôsaka Kabukiza the role of Genzô in "Terakoya"; his stage partners are the same as the January performance.

1943: Kichiemon sets up his own troupe, the Kichiemon Gekidan (literally "Kichiemon's theatrical troupe").

October 1946: Kichiemon plays at the Tôkyô Gekijô the role of Shunkan in the drama "Heike Nyogo no Shima".

November 1946: Kichiemon plays at the Minamiza the role of Shunkan in the drama "Heike Nyogo no Shima".

December 1946: Kichiemon is the zagashira of the Kabuki troupe which celebrates the reopening of the rebuilt Mitsukoshi Gekijô [more details].

1951: Kichiemon publishes his autobiography entitled "Kichiemon Jiden" (literally "Kichiemon's autobiography").

November 1952: Kichiemon plays for the last time the role of Shunkan in the drama "Heike Nyogo no Shima", which is staged at the Kabukiza. His stage partners are Nakamura Utaemon VI (Chidori) and Nakamura Tokizô III (Tanzaemon).

July 1954: Kichiemon appears on stage for the last time, at the Kabukiza, playing the role of Kumagai Jirô Naozane in "Kumagai Jin'ya".

Comments:

Nakamura Kichiemon I was one of the best tachiyaku actors of the twentieth century and had a major influence on Kabuki, helping a lot for the transmission of classic roles, which he had the chance in his prime to closely see performed by stage giants like Ichikawa Danjûrô IX or Ichikawa Danzô VII. He also deviced himself many kata, which are called Kichiemon kata. His troupe, the Kichiemon Gekidan, was the most active one in post-WW2 Japan.

Nakamura Kichiemon I's best roles: Shunkan ("Shunkan"), Kôchiyama Sôshun ("Kôchiyama"), Takebe Genzô ("Terakoya"), Ichijô Ôkura ("Ichijô Ôkura Monogatari"), Banzui Chôbê ("Yudono no Chôbê"), Jirôzaemon ("Kagotsurube Sato no Eizame"), Takechi Mitsuhide ("Badarai no Mitsuhide"), Matsuura Shizunobu ("Matsuura no Taiko"), Benkei ("Kanjinchô"), Sasaki Moritsuna ("Moritsuna Jinya"), Kumagai Jirô Naozane ("Kumagai Jin'ya"), Yatagorô Genshichi ("Kamiyui Shinza"), Daihanji no Kiyosumi ("Imoseyama Onna Teikin"), Kiuchi Sôgo ("Sakura Giminden") and Ôboshi Yuranosuke ("Kanadehon Chûshingura").

Nakamura Kichiemon I was particularly interested in the warrior Katô Kiyomasa and many new dramas were written especially for him in this role. He gathered them and others dramas in a special collection of six plays called Shûzan Jisshu, which includes "Nijô-jô no Kiyomasa", "Urusanjô no Kiyomasa", "Kumamotojô no Kiyomasa", "Matsuura no Taiko", "Yasaku no Kamabara" and "Kiyomasa Seichûroku".

"Nakamura Kichiemon, a member of the Kabukiza company, is a meteor-like actor, having risen rapidly and by sheer ability, for he has little ancestral prestige to enhance his reputation. He has no pretensions to boast of as a dancer, but in the loyalty characters of the Kabuki masterpieces, in creating afresh the rôles left by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Takeda Izumo, and Chikamatsu Hanji, he is unsurpassed." (written in 1925, when Kichiemon was at the end of his thirties, by Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan")

Nakamura Kichiemon I playing the role of the otokodate Ume no Yoshibê in the a print made by Hanayama

Prints & Illustrations

Print made by Hanayama

The Nakamura Kichiemon line of actors