Matsumoto Hakuō I

Matsumoto Hakuō I 初代松本白鸚

Born	Junjirō Fujima^[1] (1910-07-07)7 July 1910 Tokyo, Japan
Died	11 January 1982(1982-01-11) (aged 71) Tokyo, Japan
Other names	Kōraiya, Matsumoto Sumizō II, Ichikawa Somegorō V, Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII
Years active	1926–1981
Notable credit(s)	Matsuōmaru (Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami), Kumagai Naozane (Kumagai Jinya), Ōtomo Kuronushi (Tsumoru Koi Yuki no Seki no To)
Children	Matsumoto Hakuō II Nakamura Kichiemon II
Parent	Matsumoto Kōshirō VII
Relatives	Onoe Shoroku II (brother) Ichikawa Danjūrō XI (brother)

Matsumoto Hakuō I (初代松本白鸚, Shodai Matsumoto Hakuō, 7 July 1910 – 11 January 1982), born Junjirō Fujima (藤間順次郎, Fujima Junjirō), was a Japanese kabuki actor, regarded as the leading tachiyaku (specialist in male roles) of the postwar decades; he also performed in a number of non-kabuki venues, including Western theatre and films. Taking the name Hakuō upon retirement, he was known as Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII for much of his career.

Names

Like most kabuki actors, Hakuō had a number of stage names (gō) over the course of his career. A member of the Koraiya guild, he would often be called by that name, particularly in the practice of kakegoe, in which an actor's guild name, yagō, or other phrases (e.g., jūnidaime, meaning "the twelfth") is shouted out as a cheer or encouragement during a performance. Originally appearing on stage as Matsumoto Sumizō II, he later took the names Ichikawa Somegorō V and Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII.

Lineage

The son of Matsumoto Kōshirō VII and son-in-law of Nakamura Kichiemon I, the man who would later be called Hakuō was born into the kabuki world, and grew up in it. His brothers, Ichikawa Danjūrō XI and Onoe Shōroku II, were actors, as are his sons, Nakamura Kichiemon II and Matsumoto Kōshirō IX, and his grandson Ichikawa Somegorō VII.

Life and career

After making his first stage appearance in 1925, at the age of fifteen, under the name Matsumoto Sumizō II, he took the name Ichikawa Somegorō V in 1931. In 1949, when Somegorō was 39, his father, Kōshirō VII, died, and the actor took his father's name at a shūmei (naming ceremony) a few months later, becoming the eighth Matsumoto Kōshirō. The ceremony was held at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo, and featured the play Kanjinchō, in which Kōshirō VIII played Benkei and Higuchi Jirō Kanemitsu.

His film credits include Emperor Hirohito in Japan's Longest Day (日本のいちばん長い日, Nihon no ichiban nagai hi), in which Toshirō Mifune played General Korechika Anami, Ii Naosuke in Samurai Assassin (侍, Samurai), and a number of other jidaigeki (samurai period films).

Kôshirō was named a Living National Treasure in 1975, a rare and very illustrious honor awarded in Japan to those who embody, promote, and preserve traditional culture. He retired six years later, in 1981, taking on the name Hakuō in retirement and passing on the name Kōshirō to his son.

Hakuō died the following year, on 11 January 1982.

Honours

Partial filmography

Films

Teki wa Hon'nō-ji ni Ari (1960) - Akechi Mitsuhide
The River Fuefuki (1960) - Uesugi Kenshin
Yato kaze no naka o hashiru (1961) - Tasaka, shôgen
Chūshingura: Hana no Maki, Yuki no Maki (1962) - Ōishi Kuranosuke
Samurai Assassin (1965) - Lord Naosuke Ii
Japan's Longest Day (1967) - Emperor Hirohito
Admiral Yamamoto (1968) - Mitsumasa Yonai
Chōkōsō no Akebono (1969) - Hideo Edo
Battle of the Japan Sea (1969) - Emperor Meiji
Bandits vs. Samurai Squadron (1978) - Kuranosuke Tsuji

Television

Onihei Hankachō (1969-72) - Hasegawa "Onihei" Heizō
Daichūshingura (1971)
Ōgon no Hibi (1978)

Notes

^ While the stage names of all kabuki actors have retained traditional order (Surname-Givenname) on Wikipedia, birth names of those born after the Meiji Restoration are in Western order (Givenname-Surname).