Stage names:

Matsumoto Kôshirô I
Matsumoto Koshirô
Hisamatsu Koshirô

Guild: Yamatoya

Line number: SHODAI (I)

Poetry names: Omegawa, Omigawa

Existence: 1674 ~ 29 March 1730

Connections:

Master: Hisamatsu Tashirô

Adopted son: Matsumoto Kôshirô II (Ichikawa Danjûrô IV)

Career:

1674 ~ 1694: born in the Shimosa province. He starts his career at an unknown date as a disciple of the actor Hisamatsu Tashirô, who gives him the name of Hisamatsu Koshirô and trains him in wakaonnagata roles.

1694: he takes the name of Matsumoto Koshirô and plays wakashugata roles.

1699: Koshirô becomes tachiyaku and starts to act in the aragoto style, created by the Edo star Ichikawa Danjûrô I.

November 1706: Koshirô achieves a great success at the Nakamuraza by playing the role of Hayata in the drama "Uji Genji Yumi Harizuki".

November 1708: Koshirô cofinances with Ichimura Takenojô IV the erection of a commemorative stone dedicated to the Soga brothers in the precinct of the Komagome Fuji Shrine.

November 1710: Koshirô plays at the Ichimuraza the role of Ômori Hikoshichi in the kaomise drama "Shusse Taiheiki", which celebrates the shûmei of Takii Hanshirô.

May 1716: a son of the Shogun receives the same first name as the actor; Koshirô has to change his name to Matsumoto Kôshirô I:

You need a Japanese Language Kit installed within your system in order to be able to read the characters

May 1717: Chikamatsu Monzaemon's masterpiece "Kokusen'ya Gassen" is produced simultaneously in the 3 Edo Kabuki theaters. This is the first Kabuki adaptation of a puppet theater play in Edo. It is produced at the Moritaza under the title "Kokusen'ya Gojitsu Gassen"; Kôshirô plays the role of Watônai [more details].

November 1717: Kôshirô achieves a great success at the Nakamuraza by playing in the kaomise drama "Hachinoki Hônen Mitsugimono".

November 1724: Kôshirô plays at the Nakamuraza in the kaomise program "Taiheiki Okuni Kabuki". His stage partners are Ichikawa Danjûrô II, Sawamura Sôjûrô I, Yamashita Kinsaku I and Ichikawa Monnosuke I.

January 1726: Kôshirô plays at the Nakamuraza the role of Sakata Kintoki in the new year program "Kadomatsu Shitennô", which commemorates the 22nd anniversary of the death of Ichikawa Danjûrô I.

November 1727: Kôshirô plays at the Nakamuraza the role of Saitô Tarô Saemon in the kaomise drama "Yatsumune Taiheiki" [casting].

November 1729: Kôshirô appears on stage for the last time, at the Ichimuraza, playing the role of Shiraga Kintoki in the drama "Chôseiden Shiraga Kintoki".

Comments:

Matsumoto Kôshirô I was an outstanding aragotoshi and jitsugotoshi of the first third of the eighteenth century.

"He came to Edo from Shimosa province, and was at first an onnagata, but later changed to tateyaku. He belonged to Danjûrô's aragoto, or rough-acting school, inherited from the brave balladry of early Edo Jôruri, and is even said to have rivalled Danjûrô in the art of the unreal. In middle age he shaved his head as a sign of retirement from active life" (Zoë Kincaid in "Kabuki, the Popular Stage of Japan")

Matsumoto Kôshirô playing the role of Aoto Saemon in the drama "Hachinoki Onna Migyôsho", which was staged in November 1723 at the Nakamuraza (print made by Torii Kiyomasu II)

Print made by Torii Kiyomasu in 1723

The Matsumoto Kôshirô line of actors