Japanese names appear in the conventional Japanese order, with the family name first, followed by the given name. For example, “Tokugawa” in Tokugawa Musei is the historical benshi’s “family” name, though the entire name is a stage name. (He was born Fukuhara Toshio.) Contemporary benshi, Kataoka Ichiro uses his real name as his stage name. Kataoka is his family name, followed by his given name, Ichiro.
Matsuda Shunsui (II)
Matsuda Shunsui II (1925-1987)
During the silent film era, Matsuda Shunsui began his career as a child benshi by performing with his father, the original Matsuda Shunsui. After the hiatus in his performing career during the war, Matsuda took two significant steps. First, in 1947, he returned to his performing career as a benshi by using old silent films. Second, to perform alongside silent films, Matsuda began collecting old silent films by finding collectors and old movie theaters. In 1948, he officially took over his father’s stage name and became the second Matsuda Shunsui (二代目 松田春翠).
Matsuda founded Matsuda Film Productions in 1952 and was also appointed President of the Friends of Silent Films Association (無声映画鑑賞会). For more than seventy years, the Association has been screening silent films with benshi performances on a regular basis.
Matsuda also sought contemporary ways of entertaining audiences with benshi and silent films. For example, he produced a new silent film, Maggots of Hell (1979), and a 1980 documentary film about Bando Tsumasaburo, a legendary actor famous for his heroic roles in jidaigeki samurai films in the early twentieth century. In 1984, on the invitation of the Frankfurt Museum of Cinema, he gave his first benshi performance in Europe.
Matsuda also contributed to preserving old films by collecting as many as 1,000 films, most of which were silent films and amounting to about 6,000 rolls of film. He also produced thirty-two “Katsuben Talkie” silent films, for which he recorded his performance as benshi, accompanied by live music. The awards and recognitions Matsuda received include the top prize in the national Film Narrators Competition (1948), the Milion Pearl Prize (1963), and the first Tokyo Metropolitan Culture Prize (1985).
Matsuda is considered one of the most significant influences on our understanding and enjoyment of benshi performance today. He mentored Sawato Midori, who became his pupil in 1972 and celebrated her 50th anniversary as a professional benshi in 2022. Matsuda also played a crucial role in Hayashi Kaizo’s 1986 debut film, a black-and-white “silent” film, To Sleep So as to Dream (夢みるように眠りたい). This benshi site will share an analysis of Hayashi’s To Sleep So as to Dream.
Photos courtesy of Matsuda Film Productions
