Stage names:
Sawamura Sôjûrô II
Utagawa Shirogorô
Takinaka Utagawa
Takenaka Utagawa
Tomizawa Chônosuke
Other name: Sawamura Tosshi II
Guild: Kinokuniya
Line number: NIDAIME (II)
Poetry names: Kion, Tosshi (2), Shozan
Blazon: the syllabic ideogram "i" in a circle [in Japanese: い]
Existence: 1713 ~ 30th day of the 8th lunar month of 1770 [1]
Connections:
Master: Tomizawa Montarô I
Adoptive father: Sawamura Sôjûrô I
Sons: Suketakaya Takasuke II, Sawamura Sôjûrô III
Disciples: Sawamura Yodogorô II, Sawamura Tsuruzô, Sawamura Fukumatsu
Career:
1713 ~ 1733: born in Kyôto. He starts his career as a disciple of Tomizawa Montarô I, who gives him the name of Tomizawa Chônosuke.
Fall 1733: he goes to Edo.
11th lunar month of 1733: Tomizawa Chônosuke takes the name of Takenaka Utagawa at the Nakamuraza, playing in the kaomise drama "Nagi no Ha Asahi Genji".
1737: Takenaka Utagawa takes the name of Takinaka Utagawa.
11th lunar month of 1740: Utagawa plays at the Ichimuraza the role of Izumo no Okuni in the kaomise program "Kichirei Imagawajô", which welcomes in Edo the Kamigata actor Matsushima Moheiji.
11th lunar month of 1742: Takinaka Utagawa takes the name of Utagawa Shirogorô at the Nakamuraza, playing in the kaomise drama "Keisei Akazawayama".
11th lunar month of 1744: Shirogorô plays at the Moritaza, which was closed since Spring 1734, in the kaomise drama "Higashiyama Bandai no Watamashi".
11th lunar month of 1746: Shirogorô plays at the Moritaza the role of the Hachiman Tarô (the enemy of the Abe brothers) in the kaomise drama "Ôtorii Gojûshigun"; the roles of the rebels Abe no Sadatô and Abe no Munetô are played by Matsumoto Kôshirô II and Tsuuchi Monzaburô I.
1st lunar month of 1747: Shirogorô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-jô-(shiro)kichi (superior - superior - (white) excellent) [visual].
1st lunar month of 1748: Shirogorô plays at the Nakamuraza the role of Nitan no Shirô in the drama "Kazari Ebi Yoroi Soga".
5th lunar month of 1748: the drama "Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura" is performed for the first time in Edo, at the Nakamuraza; Shirogorô plays the role of Yoshitsune [casting].
1749: Shirogorô is adopted by Sawamura Chôjûrô III.
6th lunar month of 1749: the play "Kanadehon Chûshingura" is produced at the Nakamuraza for the first time; Shirogorô plays the role of Momonoi Wakasanosuke [casting].
11th lunar month of 1749: Utagawa Shirogorô takes the name of Sawamura Sôjûrô II at the Moritaza, playing in Tsuuchi Jihê II's kaomise drama "Bijo Kurabe Kiso no Kakehashi".
7th lunar month of 1753: the play "Hirakana Seisuiki" is staged for the first time in Edo, at the Ichimuraza [casting]. Sôjûrô plays the role of Yoshitsune.
1st lunar month of 1756: his adoptive father Suketakaya Takasuke I dies.
4th lunar month of 1756: Sôjûrô plays at the Nakamuraza the role of the villain Ikyû in the drama "Sukeroku", sharing the stage with Ichikawa Danjûrô IV (Sukeroku) and Nakamura Kiyosaburô I (Agemaki).
11th lunar month of 1756: Sôjûrô plays 5 roles at the Moritaza, including Taira no Kiyomori, in the kaomise drama "Manazuru Heike Monogatari".
3rd lunar month of 1761: Sôjûrô plays at the Ichimuraza the role of the villain Ikyû in the drama "Sukeroku Yukari no Edo Zakura". His stage partners are Ichimura Kamezô I (Sukeroku), Ichikawa Danjûrô IV (the shirozake seller Shinbê) and Segawa Kikunojô II (the courtesan Agemaki).
1st lunar month of 1763: Sôjûrô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, jitsuaku section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual].
1st lunar month of 1766: Sôjûrô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is jô-jô-kichi (superior - superior - excellent) [visual].
8th lunar month of 1768: Sôjûrô plays at the Ichimuraza the roles of Matsuômaru and Kakuju in the drama "Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami". His stage partners in the roles of Kan Shôjô, Umeômaru, Sakuramaru and Matsuômaru's wife Chiyo are Ichimura Uzaemon IX, Bandô Matatarô IV, Sanogawa Ichimatsu II and Azuma Tôzô II.
3rd lunar month of 1769: Sôjûrô's rank in the Edo hyôbanki, tachiyaku section, is itaru-jô-jô-kichi (unique - superior - superior - excellent).
11th lunar month of 1769: Sôjûrô goes to Kamigata and plays in Kyôto in the kaomise drama "Asahimaru Genji Kagami", which is produced by Onoe Kumesuke and celebrates the shûmei of Nakamura Shingorô II.
1st lunar month of 1770: Sôjûrô appears on stage for the last time, in Kyôto, playing in the drama "Keisei Kayoi Chidori", which is produced by the zamoto Onoe Kumesuke.
3rd lunar month of 1770: Sôjûrô's rank in the Kyôto hyôbanki, sôkanjiku section ("all kanjiku"), is itaru-jô-jô-kichi (unique - superior - superior - excellent).
30th day of the 8th lunar month of 1770 [1]: Sôjûrô dies in Kyôto. His tombstone is located in the Shôjukuan subtemple of the famous Chion'in Temple.
Comments:
Sawamura Sôjûrô II, who started and ended his career in Kamigata, was a talented tachiyaku and katakiyaku of the Hôreki and Meiwa eras. He was able to play in both jidaimono and sewamono, excelling in budôgoto and jitsuaku roles.
[1] The 30th day of the 8th lunar month of the 7th year of the Meiwa era was the 18th of October 1770 in the western calendar.
Sawamura Sôjûrô II portraying Ono Sadakurô ("Kanadehon Chûshingura") in a print made by Utagawa Toyokuni III (1862~1863)
Print made by Kitao Shigemasa at the end of the 1760s
Print made by Katsukawa Shunshô in 1769
Print made by Katsukawa Shunshô in 1770
The Sawamura Tosshi line of actors
The Sawamura Sôjûrô line of actors