Career
He was a renowned tachiyaku and katakiyaku, specializing in particular in the aragoto style. He was officially designated as a "living national treasure" by the Japanese government in 1973. Bandō made his stage debut at the age of 7, in 1913, as Bandō Yosouke III. He would take the name Minosuke VI in 1928, at the Meiji-za theatre.
He later tried to adapt The Tale of Genji to the stage, but was prohibited from doing so by the authorities.
After a few years in a kabuki troupe run by the Toho company, he moved to Kansai. He lived there for nearly 20 years, performing in Osaka and other venues, and taking part in the final performances at the Ōsaka Kabuki-za, which closed and became a department store in 1958.
Four years later, he performed at the opening ceremonies for Tokyo"s National Theater. He performed as Kakogawa Honzō in Kanadehon Chūshingura (the Tale of the 47 Ronin) in December 1974, at the National Theater.
This was among his final performances, as he died the following month at age 68.
In January 1975, Bandō visited a Kyoto restaurant with friends and ordered four portions of fugu kimo, the liver of the fugu fish, a dish whose sale was prohibited by local ordinances at the time. Claiming that he could survive the fish"s poison, he ate the livers and died after returning to his hotel room, after seven hours of paralysis and convulsions.