Bushi Matsumora

The Movie “Bushi Matsumora“ was released in 1956. It is about the heroic tale of famed martial artist Matsumora Kōsaku (portrayed by actor Matsumora Kō’eī). Following this movie, Matsumora’s story was performed on theater stages and it seems it was also performed in the form of the so-called rensageki 連鎖劇, i.e. theater performances with film screenings mixed with acting on stage, which was popular since the Taishō era (1912–1926). In Japanese historical drama so-called tateshi 殺陣師 acted as fencing instructors for martial arts fighting scene. They were mostly instructors skilled in at least one classical style of Japanese Bujutsu. For this reason one often find classical techniques shown in historical theater or movie performances. Similar to this, in this historical drama about Matsumora Kōsaku we see classical Kata of the Ryūkyū kingdom era performed, namely Passai, as well as choreographed fight scenes (Yakusoku