Sakurama Banma

Noh actor. Shite actor of the Konparu school. In later years, he changed his name to Sajin after his grandfather. The Sakurama family is an old Noh family that serves Fujisaki Hachimangu Shrine in Kumamoto along with the Tomoeda family of the Kita school. Banma is the 17th generation of the Sakurama family. His younger brothers are Kinki and Hayashitaro. At the age of 21, he studied in Edo and learned from the master Nakamura Heizo. After the age of 46, he was active in Tokyo and quickly became one of the three Meiji masters, alongside the 16th Hosho Kuro and the first Umewaka Minoru, with his fresh techniques in plays such as "Dojoji" and "Kantan." He continued to perform on stage until his later years, and at the age of 81, he played the lead role of Shite in "Takasago" at the Imperial Court Noh performance for the enthronement of Emperor Taisho. He was friends with Kuro Hosho, and it is said to be a beautiful story in the world of Noh in the Meiji period that Kuro gave Sakurama Kintaro (later known as Kyusen), the son of Banma, who followed a different style of Noh, the opportunity to perform Noh every other month at the Hosho-kai.

[Masuda Shozo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

能役者。金春(こんぱる)流シテ方。晩年祖父の名をとって左陣(さじん)と改名。桜間家は喜多(きた)流の友枝家とともに熊本の藤崎八幡宮(はちまんぐう)に奉仕する能の旧家。伴馬は桜間家17代。弟に金記(きんき)、林太郎がいる。21歳で江戸に留学し、名人中村平蔵に学んだ。46歳以後は東京で活躍し『道成寺(どうじょうじ)』『邯鄲(かんたん)』などの鮮技で、たちまち16世宝生(ほうしょう)九郎、初世梅若実(みのる)と肩を並べ明治三名人と称された。晩年まで舞台に立って至芸をみせ、大正天皇の御大典(ごたいてん)宮中能では81歳の高齢で『高砂(たかさご)』の前シテを勤めている。宝生九郎と親交があり、九郎が流儀を異にする伴馬の子桜間金太郎（後の弓川(きゅうせん)）に宝生会で隔月に能を舞う機会を与えたのは、明治能界の美談とされる。

［増田正造］

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