Actor Kinya Kitaoji (83) appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on April 8th, where he shared an anecdote about his junior high school classmate, Hakuro Matsumoto.
Kitaoji was born the son of Ichikawa Utaemon, a great star of period dramas. Originally from Kyoto Prefecture, he moved to Tokyo in junior high school to learn standard Japanese. When Tetsuko asked him, "Was Matsumoto Hakuo a classmate of yours at the junior high school you transferred to after moving to Tokyo?", Kitaoji revealed, "I was lucky enough to transfer to Gyosei Junior High School in my second year. Somegoro at the time, now known as Hakuo, was a classmate of mine in class C."
At the time, Hakuro had the "aura of a great senior" even though he was a classmate. "When Hakuro read from the textbook during Japanese class, it was amazing. He read beautifully. But when I read, my Kansai dialect would slip out. Then everyone would say, 'Huh?' 'Huh?' (laughs) I wondered how I was going to keep up with everyone," she recalled.
He witnessed firsthand how Hakuro lived his life as a Kabuki actor while attending school. "He did everything perfectly. More than just someone I admired, Fujima-kun (Hakuro) was someone who was on a very high level," he recalled.
When Tetsuko asked him, "Was it inspiring?", Kitaoji replied, "It's not just inspiring. It was amazing." He continued, "I realized how incredible it is. I learned that people who perform on stage must undergo this much training."
