Matsunosuke Onoe

Biography

As a young actor in a small traveling Kabuki group, he was discovered by Makino Shozo and made his debut as the main character in Goban Tadanobu in 1909. Later he acted in parts both as a hero and kyokyaku (a professional gambler in the Edo period, often romanticized as a chivalrous 'Robin Hood' figure) one after another, and he also performed most of the main characters in the bestsellers of the time, Tachikawa paperbacks. Ninja films were also discovered by Matsunosuke, and he was given the nickname "Medama no Matchan" due to his very large eyes. He became very popular with children who would imitate the ninja moves they had seen in his films. Matusnosuke is said to have created over 80 films a year during his prime years and made over 1,000 films in total. However, the only films that are preserved today are Chushingura (1910), Goketsu Jiraiya (1921) and Shibukawa Bangoro (1922). Matsunosuke collapsed during the filming of Kyokotsu Mikazuki in 1926, and died of heart disease on 11 September that year.