Stage names:

Ôtani Hikosaburô
Yamakawa Hikogorô

Existence: ??? ~ ???

Connection:

Master: Yamakawa Hikozaemon

Career:

1st lunar month of 1700: disciple of Yamakawa Hikozaemon, he started his career in Edo at the Nakamuraza, where he performed as a tachiyaku under the name of Yamakawa Hikogorô in the new year drama "Mannen Goyomi Inariyama".

1st lunar month of 1707: he went to Kyôto, became katakiyaku and took the name of Ôtani Hikosaburô, playing at Miyako Mandayû's theater the role of Gofukuya Shôbê in the ni-no-kawari drama "Keisei Kiba no Ume".

11th lunar month of 1714: Hikosaburô performed in Kyôto in the kaomise drama "Azuma-zukuri Ôdaidokoro", which was produced at Kameya Kumenojô's theater by Sakakiyama Shirotarô I.

1720s: in Kyôto, he was both an actor and a tôdori.

2nd lunar month of 1726: Hikosaburô went to Ôsaka, where he played at the Naka no Shibai as a tachiyaku the role of Tsukuba Sukejûrô in the drama "Butsumo Mayasan Kaichô", which was produced by Yamamoto Kyôshirô I.

3rd lunar month of 1726: Hikosaburô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, was jô-(shiro)jô (superior - (white) superior) [visual].

1729: Hikosaburô stopped acting in ôshibai and started to perform in tabi shibai.

1731 ~ 1735: he performed in Ise (1731) and Nagoya (1732~1735), in different places including the Seijuin no Shibai.

11th lunar month of 1736: Hikosaburô performed in Kyôto in the kaomise drama "Hiyoku Kin no Takaragura", which was produced at Daikokuya Takenojô's theater by Yoshizawa Tamazuma.

1st lunar month of 1737: Hikosaburô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, was jô-(shiro)jô (superior - (white) superior) [visual].

1st lunar month of 1738: Hikosaburô performed at Miyako Mandayû's theater in the new year drama "Keisei Ômu Ishi".

3rd lunar month of 1738: Hikosaburô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, was jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1738: Hikosaburô performed in Kyôto in the kaomise drama "Ichi no Tomi Hôrai Yakata", which was produced by Nakamura Tomijûrô I for the nadai Kameya Kumenojô.

1st lunar month of 1739: Hikosaburô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, fell to jô (superior) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1739: Hikosaburô performed in Kyôto in the kaomise drama "Muromachi-dono Chôhô Denki", which was produced by Sanogawa Ichimatsu I for the nadai Miyako Mandayû.

1st lunar month of 1740: Hikosaburô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, was jô (superior) [visual]. Hikosaburô performed in Kyôto at Miyako Mandayû's theater in the ni-no-kawari drama "Keisei Fugen no Minato".

Fall 1740: Hikosaburô went to Ôsaka.

11th lunar month of 1740: Hikosaburô performed at the Naka no Shibai in the kaomise drama "Shinra Genji Shimada Gunpô", which was produced by Sanogawa Hanazuma II.

1st lunar month of 1741: Hikosaburô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, was jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

3rd lunar month of 1741: Hikosaburô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, fell to jô-(shiro)jô (superior - (white) superior) [visual].

11th lunar month of 1741: Hikosaburô performed at the Kado no Shibai in the kaomise drama "Kogane no Yakata Bandai no Kame", which was produced Fujikawa Kamenoi.

12th lunar month of 1741: Hikosaburô performed in the same theater in the ni-no-kawari drama "Imaori Daikanjima".

1st lunar month of 1742: Hikosaburô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, was jô-jô (superior - superior) [visual].

3rd lunar month of 1742: Hikosaburô's rank in the Ôsaka hyôbanki, katakiyaku section, fell to two black strokes above jô-(shiro)jô (superior - (white) superior) [visual]. No record afterwards.

Comments:

Ôtani Hikosaburô was a katakiyaku actor of the Kamigata Kabuki tradition, active during the first half of the eighteenth century. Although he was neither particularly talented nor especially popular, he nevertheless succeeded in maintaining a stage career that spanned more than forty years, performing in both ôshibai and tabi shibai.

The actors Ôtani Hikosaburô (left) and Karyû Sawaemon (right) playing the roles of the kumosuke Yami no Yajibê and the hinin Chûbê in the kaomise drama "Chôseiden Kogane no Ishizue", which was staged in Kyôto at Hayagumo Chôdayû's theater in the 11th lunar month of 1718