Toyotake Rosho

Japanese: 豊竹呂昇 - とよたけ・ろしょう

Year of death: June 7, 1930
Year of birth: August 4, 1874 (Meiji 7)
A female Gidayu performer active in the Meiji and Taisho periods. Her real name was Nagata Naka. Her father was Tamekichi and her mother was Yuko. She was born in Nagoya. She learned Tokiwazu when she was in elementary school, and began Gidayu at about the age of 13 under Takemoto Namikoshidayu (the 5th Takemoto Tosatayu), and she joined the Takemoto Kotosa troupe under the name Nakaji. She married at the age of 17 but was divorced. In 1892, she became a disciple of the first Toyotake Rotayu, went to Osaka to further her training, and changed her name to Rosho. She gained popularity with her gorgeous beauty and beautiful voice, based in Osaka's vaudeville halls, and performed all over the country. She went to Tokyo twice, in 1906 and 1903, and from 1905 she appeared in the Masters' Meeting, held twice a year, at the Yurakucho Theater in Tokyo. She deepened her connections with scholars, cultural figures, and political and business leaders, and raised the status of female Gidayu, which was a vaudeville art. He was as popular as the Bunraku master Takemoto Settsu Daijo, but retired in 1924.

(Yumiko Tanaka)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：昭和5.6.7(1930)
生年：明治7.8.4(1874)
明治大正期に活躍した女義太夫の太夫。本名永田仲。父は為吉,母は勇子。名古屋生まれ。小学生のころ常磐津を習い,13歳ごろ竹本浪越太夫(5代目竹本土佐太夫)につき義太夫を始め,仲路と名乗り竹本小土佐の一座に加わる。17歳で結婚するが離別。明治25(1892)年初代豊竹呂太夫に入門し,大阪に出て修業を積み,呂昇と改名。大阪の寄席を本拠として華やかな美貌と美声で人気を得,各地で興行する。31年,38年と2度上京したあと,40年より東京の有楽座において,毎年2回の名人会に出演。学者,文化人,政財界人と交流を深め,寄席芸であった女義太夫の格を向上させた。文楽の名人竹本摂津大掾に並ぶ人気を博したが,大正13(1924)年引退。<参考文献>西村九郎右衛門編『呂昇』

(田中悠美子)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

<<: Toyotake Wakadayu - Toyotake Wakadayu

>>: Toyotakeyamashiro Shojo - Toyotakeyamashiro Shojo