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於染久松色読販 / 立命館ARC hayBK02-0001

Tsuruya Nanboku IV

A kabuki playwright active during the Bunka (1804-1818) and Bunsei (1818-1830) eras. He achieved great success by writing about commoners of the lower strata of Edo society

1755-1829

       Tsuruya Nanboku IV was a kabuki playwright of the late Edo period. He was commonly called O Nanboku (the Great Nanboku). His childhood name was Sakurada Hyozo; his previous name, prior to Tsuruya Nanboku, was Katsu Hyozo I; and his pen name for popular, lowbrow literature was Uba Josuke. The son of the fabric dyer Ebi Yaisaburo of Nihonbashi in Edo, he began studying under Kanai Sansho in 1775 as an apprentice kabuki writer, it is said. Two years later he was given the name Sakurada Jisuke I, but he used his childhood name Sakurada Hyozo. Later he adopted the name Sawa Hyozo, and in 1782 he again changed his name to Katsu Hyozo. Around this time he married Okichi, a daughter of Tsuruya Nanboku III.

       In 1803 he became the head playwright for Kawarazaki-za, a major kabuki theater in Edo. In 1804 Nanboku wrote the informal kabuki play Tenjiku Tokubei kokubanashi (The Travels of Tenjiku Tokubei) for the actor Onoe Matsusuke I. This play, because it made ample use of quick costume changes and effective props, won a favorable reception. Following this success, Nanboku wrote other summer kabuki plays for Matsusuke, establishing a name for himself as a ghost story playwright. In addition, he created plays about contemporary life and manners that include realistic depictions of the customs and values of commoners, establishing a genre called kizewamono. His most outstanding work in this genre was Kachizumo ukina no hanabure (The Favored Wrestler Creates a Scandal by Getting Involved with a Geisha, 1810), written for Matsumoto Koshiro V and first performed at Ichimura-za in Edo. The next year, 1811, he assumed the name of his father-in-law, "Tsuruya Nanboku." Thereafter, he created plays for actors such as Iwai Hanshiro V, Ichikawa Danjuro VII, and Onoe Kikugoro III and, together with his students (Katsu Hyozo II, Matsui Kozo II, Katsui Genpachi, etc.), wrote most of the new kabuki plays performed in the three major theaters of Edo (Nakamura-za, Ichimura-za, and Morita-za). Specializing in plays that bring together two or more story lines, Nanboku contributed greatly to the development of the kizewamono. In addition to the works mentioned above, his major plays include Sakura hime Azuma Bunsho (The Scarlet Princess of Edo, 1817), first performed at Kawarazaki-za, and Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan (The Ghost Story of Yotsuya on the Tokaido Highway, 1825), first performed at Nakamura-za.

       The first three generations bearing the name "Tsuruya Nanboku" were comic kabuki actors. The fifth generation first acted in child roles and then became a writer, his son-in-law was adopted by Katsu Hyosuke, and his students included Segawa Joko III and Kawatake Mokuami.

宝暦5年(1755)江戸に生まれる
文政12年、没
安永6年(1777)桜田兵蔵を名乗る
天明2年(1782)勝俵蔵に改名
文化7年(1810)『勝相撲浮名花触』市村座で初演
享和3年(1803)江戸河原崎座の立作者となる
文政8年(1825)『東海道四谷怪談』中村座で初演
文化14年『桜姫東文章』河原崎座で初演
文化8年、南北を襲名
宝暦5年(1755)江戸に生まれる

Related People, Things and Events

Books

Biographies and critical biographies

Related Works

Nanboku's Kyogen in nishiki-e (colored woodblock prints)

Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan (“Ghost Story of Yotsuya in Tokaido”)

Sakura-Hime Azuma Bunsho (“The Cherry Blossom Princess of Edo”)

Kami Kakete Sango Taisetsu (“The Lovers’ Pledge”)

Tenjiku Tokubei Ikoku-Banashi (“The Tale of Tokubei from India”)

Toki mo Kikyo Shusse no Ukejo: Badarai no Mitsuhide (“The Time of the Bellflower’s Bid for Success: Mitsuhide at the Horses’ Washtub”)

Iroeiri Otogi Zoshi (“A Colorful Companion Tale”)

Kachi-Zumo Ukina no Hanabure (“Scandal of a Champion Wrestler”)

Institutions Holding Related Materials

  • The National Diet Library (NDL), founded in 1948, is the library which belongs to the Diet. The NDL assists the activities of the National Diet. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture and providing library services to administrative and judicial entities and Japanese citizens.

  • The University of Tokyo is promoting the construction of digital archives. The University of Tokyo Archives, The University Museum, Information Technology Center, and University of Tokyo Library System collaborate on this project.

  • With the aid of supporters from a range of fields, The Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum, Waseda University, familiarly known as "Enpaku", was founded in October 1928 to commemorate the 70th birthday of Professor Tsubouchi Shoyo and the completion by him of the translation into Japanese of all 40 volumes of the "Complete Works of Shakespeare", a task to which the Professor had devoted half his life. Since then, as Asia's only museum dedicated solely to the theatre, Enpaku has been engaged in collecting works relating to the theatre and motion pictures both in Japan and all around the world. Its extensive collection of about one million works that has been amassed over 85 years may be termed as "the history of theatre" itself. Meanwhile it also contributes to researchers from a wide range of fields, extending from the theatre and motion pictures to other areas such as literature, history, clothing and construction.

  • 黒船稲荷神社(東京都江東区)境内に住居があった。江東おでかけ情報局サイト。

  • 鶴屋南北の墓所。所在地は東京都墨田区。

  • 伝統芸能の保存及び振興を行う独立行政法人日本芸術文化振興会が運営するサイト。4世鶴屋南北の生涯や関係する人々、主な演目などを紹介。

  • 「鶴屋南北」関連の演目情報・資料情報・人物情報を調べることができる。演目情報では出演者やスタッフなども載せている。

  • 第314回歌舞伎公演(令和元(2019)年10月)で発行された上演集。「天竺徳兵衛韓噺」の上演年表を見ることができる。

  • 歌舞伎 on the web。4世鶴屋南北の代表作「桜姫東文章」「東海道四谷怪談」「盟三五大切」の3作を詳しく解説。

  • 早稲田大学図書館が所蔵する古典籍の書誌情報と関連研究資料、さらには全文の画像を、学術研究に資する目的で広く全世界に公開するもの。

References

  1. 古井戸秀夫 著,吉川弘文館
  2. 服部幸雄, 富田鉄之助, 廣末保 編,平凡社膨大な専門知識の蓄積を系統的に集大成した初の本格的専門事典。最新の研究成果を織り込み,伝承技術と知識と1500余項目で解説。(日本児童図書出版協会)