Namiki Gohei I 並木五瓶初代 | |
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Born | 1747 Osaka, Japan |
Died | 1808 Edo, Japan |
Occupation | Kabuki actor and playwright |
Nationality | Japanese |
Period | Edo |
Genre | jidai-mono, sewa-mono |
Namiki Gohei I (Japanese: 並木五瓶初代; 1747 – June 2, 1808) was a Kabuki playwright active in Kyoto,[1] Edo and Osaka.[2] He wrote over 100 plays,[3] mostly in the genres of jidai-mono (historical) and sewa-mono (current events).
Born in the Doshōmachi district[4] in Osaka in 1747, Gohei was a student of the playwright Namiki Shōzō I.[5] By 1775 he was already the main playwright for the Hayakumo-za Kabuki theatre in Kyoto.
Two of his plays have been translated into English,[6] The Temple Gate and the Paulownia Crest (1778, translated by Alan Cummings) and Five Great Powers that Secure Love (1794, translated by Julie A. Iezzi), both in Kabuki Plays on Stage II: Villainy and Vengeance, 1773-1799, edited by James R. Brandon and Samuel L. Leiter.