Matsumoto Hakuō I  , born , was a Japanese Kabuki actor, regarded as the leading "tachiyaku" (specialist in male roles) of the postwar decades; he also performed in a number of non-kabuki venues, including Western theatre and films. Taking the name Hakuō upon retirement, he was known as Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII for much of his career. Like most Kabuki actors, Hakuō had a number of stage names ("gō") over the course of his career. A member of the Koraiya guild, he would often be called by that name, particularly in the practice of "yagō", in which an actor's guild name is shouted out as a cheer or encouragement during a performance. Originally appearing on stage as Matsumoto Sumizō II, he later took the names Ichikawa Somegorō V and Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII. The son of Matsumoto Kōshirō VII and son-in-law of Nakamura Kichiemon I, the man who would later be called Hakuō was born into the kabuki world, and grew up in it. His brothers, Ichikawa Danjūrō XI and Onoe Shōroku II, were actors, as are his sons, Nakamura Kichiemon II and Matsumoto Kōshirō IX, and his grandson Ichikawa Somegorō VII. After making his first stage appearance in 1925, at the age of fifteen, under the name Matsumoto Sumizō II, he took the name Ichikawa Somegorō V in 1931. In 1949, when Somegorō was 39, his father, Kōshirō VII, died, and the actor took his father's name at a "shūmei" (naming ceremony) a few months later, becoming the eighth Matsumoto Kōshirō. The ceremony was held at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo, and featured the play "Kanjinchō", in which Kōshirō VIII played Benkei and Higuchi Jirō Kanemitsu. His film credits include Emperor Hirohito in "Japan's Longest Day" (日本のいちばん長い日, "Nihon no ichiban nagai hi"), in which famous actor Toshirō Mifune played General Korechika Anami, Ii Naosuke in "Samurai Assassin" (侍, "Samurai"), and a number of other "jidaigeki" (samurai period films).