Matsumoto Kōshirō V Wearing a Chequered Coat as Banzuin Chōbei by a Stela with a Buddhist Memento

Matsumoto Kōshirō V created the character of the famous leader of the Edo underworld Banzui (or Banzuin) Chōbei in 1837, when he began to play this well-known part in the Nakamuraza Theatre on New Year’s Day. Iwau Shijaku, an actor of female roles, played the character of his younger accomplice and loyal admirer. The two followed the kata theatrical style, which had been devised by Ichikawa Ebizō V and Iwai Tojaku. Matsumoto Kōshirō played this character one year before his death in 1838 in such an unforgettable manner that Kunisada portrayed him in this retrospective painting as late as 1847. The stone stela bears the inscription: “I invoke the holy lotus sutra.” (Namu myōhō Renge kyō). (See Helena Honcoopová, Kunisada, Praha 2005, p. 132)