was a Japanese actor. He was one of the leading tachiyaku Kabuki actors of Japan's Meiji period (1868–1912) through the late 1940s. Names Like most Kabuki actors, Kōshirō took various stage names (gō) over the course of his career. A member of the Kōraiya guild, he was often called by that name, particularly in the practice of yagō, in which an actor's guild name is shouted out as a cheer or encouragement during a performance. Following in his birth father's footsteps as a master of traditional dance, he bore the stage name Fujima Kan'emon III in that context. In his first appearance on the Kabuki stage, he took the name Ichikawa Kintarō, and would later take the names Ichikawa Somegorō IV and Ichikawa Komazō VIII before coming to be known as the seventh Matsumoto Kōshirō. Early life The son of buyō (traditional dance) master Fujima Kan'emon II, he was adopted into the kabuki theatre by Ichikawa Danjūrō IX, who then became his master. Kōshirō's sons would come to take the stage names Ichikawa Danjūrō XI, Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII, and Onoe Shōroku II; his son-in-law, Nakamura Jakuemon IV, was also an actor, along with many of Kōshirō's grandsons and great-grandsons. He was the third son of a builder and contractor. He was noticed by Fujima Kan'emmon II, an important buyō dance master, who adopted him and instructed him in the art of traditional dances. He was later noted by Ichikawa Danjuro IX, who thought he would have been better suited to Kabuki and took him under his protection. Career Under the name Ichikawa Kintarō, he debuted in 1881, at age eleven. He grew up to become Danjuro's best disciple. The young Kintaro was indiscreet and featured in many escapades, angering his master. He was expelled from the Ichikawa clan. For a long time it was thought he would never return to the stage. He was later forgiven and by April 1890 returned to the stage and took the name Ichikawa Somegorō IV. In 1893 he took part in the opening ceremonies of Tokyo's Meiji-za theatre. During these years he first performed the prestigious role of the warrior priest Benkei in Kanjincho, a role which was back then exclusive to Danjuro's clan and which required their permission to perform the role (Ichikawa Ennosuke III's great-grandfather, Danshiro II, was expelled from the Ichikawa clan for the same reason). Months before his master's death