Nakamura Sojuro

Japanese: 中村宗十郎 - なかむら・そうじゅうろう

Year of death: October 8, 1889
Year of birth: Tempo 6 (1835)
A Kabuki actor from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period. His real name was Fujii Jubei. His haiku name was Kasen. His stage name was Suehiroya. He was born in Atsuta, Owari. He started acting at around the age of 17 under the name Arashi Kamezo. Later he became Nakamura Utajozo. He went up to Osaka and performed at the Naka-shiba theater in Miyaji, where he became the husband of Mimasu Daigoro IV and took the name Mimasu Gennosuke III, but in 1865 he fell out of favor and reverted to his stage name, changing his name to Nakamura Sojuro. From then until the beginning of the Meiji period, he improved his skills remarkably, achieving great success with his roles as Shirojiro in "Hanayuki Koi Te Kagami" ("Children's Love") and Kamiya Jihei in "Shinju Ten no Amijima" ("Nobe no Shoki"), competing fiercely for popularity with the first Sanekawa Enjaku. In 1873 he went east and was well-received, returning to Osaka in the same year. The following year, he presented a proposal for reform of the theater to other actors, but it was not accepted, and he retired from acting for a time. However, in the same year, at the request of Morita Kan'ya 12, he went to Tokyo and performed at the Shintomi-za theater, giving a brilliant performance that was not one inch inferior to Dankikuza. However, he did not agree with Ichikawa Danjūrō IX's interest in active play, and returned to Osaka four years later. Thereafter, he played an important role as the leader of the Dotonbori theater. As an actor of a new era, he had great insight, and even in his Japanese plays he aimed for true expression rather than technique. The theater reform movement that he devoted himself to in his later years also fell flat, but he had a great influence on the Shinpa school of Kakuto Sadanori, Kawakami Otojirō and others. There was a leading actor in Kami-Osaka who called himself Nakamura Sōjūrō in the Kyoho and Genbun periods (1716-1741), but he was of a different lineage.

(Aoki Shigeru)

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

Japanese:

没年：明治22.10.8(1889)
生年：天保6(1835)
幕末明治期の歌舞伎役者。本名藤井重兵衛。俳名霞仙。屋号末広屋。尾張熱田生まれ。17歳ごろ嵐亀蔵の名で芝居の道へ入る。のち中村歌女蔵。上坂して宮地の中芝居に出,4代目三枡大五郎の女婿となり,3代目三枡源之助を名乗ったが,慶応1(1865)年不縁となり名跡を戻し,中村宗十郎と改名した。以後明治初年にかけてめきめき腕を上げ,「花雪恋手鑑」(「乳貰い」)の四郎次郎や「心中天網島」(「のべの書置」)の紙屋治兵衛で大当たりをとり,初代実川延若と激しく人気を争った。明治6(1873)年東上して好評を得,同8年帰阪。翌年劇壇の改革案を他の役者に示して容れられず,一旦は役者を廃業。しかし同10年12代目守田勘弥に乞われて上京し,新富座に出て団菊左に一歩も譲らぬ名演を見せた。しかし9代目市川団十郎の活歴趣味と相容れず,4年後帰阪。以後道頓堀の座頭として重きをなした。新時代の俳優として見識すぐれ,その和事も技巧より真実の表現をめざした。晩年に力を入れた演劇改良運動も頓座はしたが,角藤定憲,川上音二郎らの新派に大きな影響を与えた。なお,上方には享保・元文期(1716～41)にも中村宗十郎と名乗る立役がいたが別系である。

(青木繁)

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

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