Background
Her father Tota was a retainer of the Shogunate.
- Photos
- Works
- Photos
- Works
book
- Botan Hake (Brush of Powder)
Sumako Matsui
Edit Profile
also known as
Masa Kobayashi
Career
She married in Tokyo in 1902 but later obtaining a divorce became an actress and married a member of her troupe. The second marriage also ended in divorce. When a training school was founded by the Bungei Kyokai (Literature and Arts Association) she joined it and later came into prominence with her role in the Japanese version of “Hamlet.” When the Bungei Kyokai was dissolved due to her love affair with Hogetsu Shimamura, she followed her lover and joined his new troupe, Geijutsuza Association. Here she achieved her great fame in the role of Katusha in Tolstoy's “Resurrection” and plays of Kichizo Nakamura. She committed suicide after her lover died.
