MATSUMOTO KÔSHIRÔ VIII (松本幸四郎)
07/07/1910 - 01/11/1982

a
ka MATSUMOTO HAKUÔ I (松本白鸚)
aka ICHIKAWA SOMEGORÔ V (市川染五郎)
aka MATSUMOTO SUMIZÔ II 松本純蔵)



FEBRUARY 1948

                   
Sawamura Tanosuke V (澤村田之助) as Yoshitsune (義經)
 
Ichikawa Somegorô V (市川染五郎) as Tomomori (知盛)

Play: Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura (義経千本桜)
Performance Place: Tôkyō Gekijô, Tokyo
Performance Date: 02/1948
Print Date: 02/1948?
Artist: Ueno Tadamasa (上野忠雅)
Series: Tô Kyôgen Kabuki Nishikie (当狂言歌舞伎錦絵)
Image courtesy of a Private Collector



JULY 1948


Ichikawa Somegorô V (市川染五郎) as
Tamiya Iemon (民谷伊右衛門)
 
Play: Tôkaidô Yotsuya Kaidan (東海道四谷怪談)
Performance Place: Mitsukoshi Gekijô, Tokyo
Performance Date: 07/1948
Print Date: 07/1948?
Artist: Sasajima Kihei (笹島喜平)
Series: Shichigatsu Kyôgen Mitsukoshi Gekijô
Hanga Ko-Shû (七月狂言 三越劇場 板画小集))
Personal Collection
 
 
 

FEBRUARY 1949


 Bandô Keizô I (坂東慶三) as
 Matano Gorô Kagehisa 俣野五郎景久)

Ichikawa Danzô VIII (市川団蔵; 市川團蔵) as
Ôba Saburô Kagechika (大庭三郎景親)
 
Ichikawa Somegorô V (市川染五郎) as
Kajiwara Heizô Kagetoki (梶原平三景時)
 
Nakamura Kichinojô I (中村吉之丞) as
Aogaishi Rokurôdayû (青貝師六郎太夫)

Nakamura Matagorô II (中村又五郎) as
Musume Kozue (娘梢)
 
Play: Kajiwara Heizô Homare no Ishikiri 
(梶原平三譽石切)
[Act III of Miura no Ôsuke Ôbai Tazuna]
Performance Place: Mitsukoshi Gekijô, Tokyo
Performance Date: 02/03/1949
Print Date: 02/1949?
Artist: Sasajima Kihei (笹島喜平)
Medium: Woodblock print with hand-applied color on verso
Image courtesy of MyJapaneseHanga.com
 
 
 

DECEMBER 1949

                   
Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII (松本幸四郎) as Sekibê (関兵衛)

Play: Tsumoru Koi Yuki no Seki no To 
(積恋雪関扉; 積戀雪関扉)
Performance Place: Tokyo Gekijô, Tokyo
Performance Date: 12/1949
Print Date: 1950
Artist: Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水)
Personal Collection
 
 
 
 
 


Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII (松本幸四郎) as
Sekimori Sekibê (関守関兵衛)
           
Play: Tsumoru Koi Yuki no Seki no To
(積恋雪関扉; 積戀雪關扉)
Performance Place: Tokyo Gekijô, Tokyo
Performance Date: 12/1949
Print Date: 12/1949?
Artist: Sasajima Kihei (笹島喜平)
Medium: Colored woodblock print, likely with
hand-applied color on verso
Image courtesy of the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum

Note:  Kôshirô VIII would reprise this role during the
1950s at the Meiji-za in March 1951, at the Kabuki-za in
December 1953, at the Meiji-za in March 1956, and at the
Kabuki-za in November 1959.  I cannot rule out the
possibility that this print reflects one of these later
performances.
 
 
 
 

MAY 1950


Nakamura Shikan VI (中村芝翫) as
Taema-hime (絶間姫)
 
Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII (松本幸四郎) as
Narukami Jônin (鳴神上人)

Plays: Narukami (鳴神)
Performance Place: Misono-za, Nagoya
Performance Date: 05/1950
Print Date: 05/03/50
Artist: Ueno Tadamasa (上野忠雅)
Medium: Woodblock printed program (back cover)
Personal Collection
  



AUGUST 1950

                   
Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII (松本幸四郎) as
Watanabe Genji Tsuna (渡辺源次綱)

Play: Ibaraki (茨木)
Performance Place: Tokyo Gekijô, Tokyo
Performance Date: 08/1950
Print Date: 12/1951
Artist: Natori Shunsen (名取春仙)
Series: Shinpan Butai no Sugata-e
[New Version of Figures on the Stage]
(新版舞台之姿絵)
Image courtesy of the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum
 
 
 


NOVEMBER 1952

 

                    
Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII (松本幸四郎) as
Matsuômaru (松王丸)

Play: Kuruma Biki (車引), Act III, Scene 1 of
Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami
(菅原伝授手習鑑;  菅原傳授手習鑑)
Performance Place: Kabuki-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 11/23/52
Print Date: 09/1954
Artist: Ota Gatô (太田雅光)
Series: Gendai Butai Geika (現代舞台芸花) (#6)
Image courtesy of the Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum

Note: Kôshirô VIII first played the role of Matsuômaru in
this play in Tokyo at the Meiji-za in March 1951, so it is
possible that Gakô based this print on one of Kôshirô
VIII's prior Tokyo performances. 
 
 


 
 

.

 
 

DECEMBER 1953

                 
[Hell Screen] Jigoku Hen (地獄変)
 
Play: Jigoku Hen (地獄変)
Performance Place: Kabukii-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 12/05/53
Print Date:
Personal Collection
 
Note: The cast of this production included Nakamura Kanzaburō XVII
(中村勘三郎) as Eshi Yoshihide (絵師良秀), Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII
(松本幸四郎) as Horikawa Daijin (堀河大臣), Nakamura Utaemon VI
(中村歌右衛門)  as  Yoshihide Musume Ro 艸 (良秀娘露艸) and as
Tsuyukusa (露草), Nakamura Shikaku II (中村 芝鶴) as ? (    ), Nakamura
Matagorō II (中村又五郎) as Deshi Hanada Waka, Morita Kan'ya XIV
(守田 勘弥) as Deshi Fudeo (弟子筆雄), and Sawamura Sōjūrō VIII
(沢村宗十郎) as Midai Aoi no Kata (御台葵の方).



DECEMBER 1955

                   
Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII (松本幸四郎) as
Musashibô Benkei (武蔵坊弁慶)

Play:  Kanjinchô (勧進帳)
Performance Place: Kabuki-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 12/03/55
Print Date: 02/1957
Artist: Natori Shunsen (名取春仙)
Medium: Hand-colored keyblock print (版画源画)
Personal Collection




APRIL 1956

                   
Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII (松本幸四郎) as
Sendô Matsuemon (船頭松右門), in reality
Higuchi Kanemitsu (樋口兼光)

Play:  Hirakana Seisuiki (ひらかな盛衰記)
Performance Place: Kabuki-za, Tokyo
Performance Date:  04/01/56
Print Date: 1956?
Artist: Natori Shunsen (名取春仙)
Medium: Hand-colored keyblock print (版画源画)

Note:  Although purporting to be hanga genga in
the 2002 and 1991 Shunsen catalogs, it appears
to be a finished painting and I have not found a
hand-colored keyblock print for this design.
 



MARCH 1959

                   
Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII (松本幸四郎) as
Kumedera Danjô (粂寺弾正)

Play:  Kenuki (毛抜)
Performance Place: Meiji-za, Tokyo
Performance Date: 03/01/59
Print Date: 03/1959 or later
Artist: Natori Shunsen (名取春仙)
Medium: Hand-colored keyblock print (版画源画)
Personal Collection

Note: Kôshirô VIII also performed this role at the
Minami-za in Tokyo in February 1950.  I cannot
rule out the possibility that this print reflects that
performance.  A similar but more detailed
version of this design is shown in the 2002 and
1991 Shunsen catalogs (and appears to be a painting).

                 
Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII or IX (松本幸四郎) as
Sekimori Sekibei (関守関兵衛)/Kuronushi (黒主)
           
Play: Seki no To (雪関扉)
Performance Place: ?
Performance Date: ?
Print Date: ?
Artist: Yamamoto Hisashi (山本ひさし)
Medium: Woodblock printed senshafuda
Personal Collection
 
Note: Matsumoto Kôshirô IX performed this role five times between 1986
and 1999.  If this print depicts Matsumoto Kôshirô VIII, he performed this
role thirteen times between 1953 and 1979.