Musei Tokugawa

Musei Tokugawa (徳川 夢声, Tokugawa Musei, 13 April 1894 – 1 August 1971) was a Japanese benshi, actor, raconteur, essayist, and radio and television personality. Musei (as he was called) first came to prominence as a benshi, a narrator of films during the silent era in Japan. He was celebrated for his restrained but erudite narration that was popular among intellectual film fans.[1] He concentrated on foreign films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari at high-class theaters like the Aoikan and the Musashinokan, but also performed Japanese works such as Teinosuke Kinugasa's experimental masterpiece A Page of Madness (1926).[2] As the silent era ended, Musei switched to storytelling on stage and on radio, and also began acting and doing narrations in films. He was also famous for his essays, humorous novels, and autobiographical writings,[1] publishing nearly fifty books in his life.[3] With the advent of television in Japan, Musei also became a prominent presence in that medium.

Musei Tokugawa
Musei Tokugawa
Born
Toshio Fukuhara

(1894-04-13)13 April 1894
Masuda, Shimane, Japan
Died1 August 1971(1971-08-01) (aged 77)
NationalityJapanese
OccupationFilm actor, raconteur

Notes
  1. Dym, Jeffrey A. "Tokugawa Musei: A Portrait Sketch of One of Japan's Greatest Narrative Artists." In Praise of Film Studies: Essays in Honor of Makino Mamoru. Eds. Aaron Gerow and Abé Mark Nornes (Kinema Club, 2001).
  2. Gerow, Aaron (2008). A Page of Madness: Cinema and Modernity in 1920s Japan. Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-929280-51-3.
  3. Tokugawa Musei chosho, Japanese Wikipedia
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