Stage names:

Nakamura Nakazô II
Ôtani Oniji III
Ôtani Haruji II
Ôtani Eisuke

Nickname: Maruya Jicchô

Guilds: Masauraya, Maruya

Line number: NIDAIME (II)

Poetry names: Tôshû, Jicchô

Existence: 1759 ~ 7th day of the 11th lunar month of 1796

Connections:

Master: Ôtani Hiroji III

Adopted son: Ôtani Oniji IV

Career:

1st lunar month of 1770: he makes his first appearance on stage, at the Ichimuraza, where he receives the name of Ôtani Eisuke.

11th lunar month of 1778: Ôtani Eisuke takes the name of Ôtani Haruji II and becomes wakashugata.

11th lunar month of 1787: Ôtani Haruji II takes the name of Ôtani Oniji III at the Nakamuraza, playing in the kaomise drama "Yukimizuki Eiga Hana no Hachinoki".

9th lunar month of 1790: the play "Yoshitsune Koshigoejô" is staged for the first time in Edo, at the Ichimuraza; it celebrates the onagori kyôgen of the Kamigata star Asao Tamejûrô I; Oniji plays the role of Nishikido no Tarô [more details].

3rd lunar month of 1793: Oniji's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, is jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].

8th lunar month of 1793: premiere at the Kawarasakiza of the Nagauta-based dance-drama "Tsuki no Kao Monaka no Natorigusa" (commonly called "Oniji Hyôshimai" in the Kabuki repertoire); Oniji plays the role of Osada Tarô [casting].

10th lunar month of 1794: due to some financial difficulties, the salaries of all the actors are drastically reduced. Oniji's yearly salary for the coming season is set to 250 ryô after a reduction of 80.

11th lunar month of 1794: Ôtani Oniji III takes the name of Nakamura Nakazô II at the Miyakoza, playing in Namiki Gohei I's kaomise drama "Uruô Tosshi Meika no Homare", which welcomes in Edo the actors Kataoka Nizaemon VII and Nakamura Noshio II and the Ôsaka playwright Namiki Gohei I.

9th lunar month of 1796: the play "Hikosan Gongen Chikai no Sukedachi" is staged for the first time in Edo, simultaneously at the Kiriza and the Miyakoza; Nakazô plays the roles of Mokusokan and the yakko Tomohei in the latter theater [casting].

11th lunar month of 1796: Nakazô appears on stage for the last time, at the Miyakoza, playing in the kaomise drama "Seiwa Nidai Ôyose Genji". He suddenly falls ill and quickly dies. His tombstone is located in the precincts of the Kôtokuji in the district of Asakusa.

Comments:

Nakamura Nakazô II was a talented and promising jitsuaku actor of the second half of the eighteenth century. Although he had no conection with Nakamura Nakazô I and was from the Ôtani clan, he had the privilege to take the prestigious name of Nakamura Nakazô II. He unfortunately died too young before reaching the peak of his career. Tôshûsai Sharaku made his most famous print with him.

Nakamura Nakazô II playing the role of Matsuômaru in the drama "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami" in a print made by Utagawa Toyokuni III in 1852

Prints & Illustrations

Print made by Tôshûsai Sharaku in 1794

Print made by Tôshûsai Sharaku in 1794

Print made by Katsukawa Shun'ei in 1795

The Ôtani Haruji line of actors

The Ôtani Oniji line of actors

The Nakamura Nakazô line of actors