Soganoya Gorô (曽我廻家五郎) as Kamematsu (亀松)
Play: Sanjyûroku Kaishyô no Uchi (三十六快笑の内):
Hazakura (葉桜; 葉櫻)
Performance Place: Shinjuku Daiichi Gekijô
Performance Date: 10/09/35
Print Date: 1950 or later
Artist: Ota Gako (太田雅光)
Series: Meifu Miyage Geki no Omokage
(冥府苞苴劇容彩) (#29)
Medium: ?
Image courtesy of the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum
Note: It is unclear if this is a woodblock print, a watercolor
drawing, or a hand-colored keyblock print for an
unpublished design. Gorô died on November 1, 1948 at
age 72. This print may reflect some other performance
but October 1935 is the only performance in Tokyo that I
could find. There was a play called "Hazakura" that
played at the Kabuki-za in April 1935 but it does not
appear to have been written or performed by Gorô.
Given the closeness in dates, one wonders if Gorô's
comedy might have been a spoof of the play that
played at the Kabuki-za. The last performance of
Hazakura that I could find before Gorô's death was at
the Misono-za in Kyoto in May 1945.