His style of acting was similar to that of the second Danjuro, but it was in Kabuki’s music-posture pieces, or shosagoto, that he was at his best. The fourth Matsumoto Koshiro, who acted on the Yedo stage at the same time as Nakazo, was born in Kyoto, and also led a troubled life. He acted at the Ichimura-za, but was not a success, and his elder sister, who owned a theatre tea-house, advised him to give up his attempts on the stage, and take over the management of her business. Later on he must have proved his worth, for the fourth Danjuro took him under his patronage. He was not on friendly terms with the fifth Danjuro, which caused a good deal of Yedo gossip. The Ichimura-za could scarcely maintain itself, and the salaries of the actors were not paid. Koshiro went to Osaka by ship, taking with him the Yedo onnagata, Iwai Hanshiro, and some one thirsting for revenge because Koshiro had insulted another actor, threw stones at him as he was departing. In Kyoto, where he acted, feeling was stirred up against him and he was not popular. To increase his troubles the Ichimura-za went bankrupt. Towards the end of his career, he and the fifth Danjuro, who had so long been estranged, became good friends. One of his sons became a famous actor, and succeeded him as Matsumoto Koshiro, the fifth. In the period that followed, the most popular actor was Ichikawa Danjuro, the fifth. He was the son of the fourth, and his mother was the adopted daughter of the second. He acted with Nakamura Nakazo. His wife was the daughter of Iwai Hanshiro, but they did not get along well together; she wished for a divorce, and they lived separately. Finally he married the widow of Ichikawa Yaozo. At 51 he retired to Mukojima across the Sumida River from Yedo, where he drank sake, wrote poems, and wore a patched kimono of many colours, refusing to meet theatre folks. One of his sons, to whom he gave the illustrious stage name of Ichikawa Danjuro, the sixth, died young, and another of his sons became Danjuro, the seventh. The most famous actor of the Bunka-Bunsei period (1804—1829) in Kyoto and Osaka was Kataoka Nizaemon, the seventh, directly descended from the Genroku actor who founded the line. Born in Kyoto, he became a follower of Nakamura Nakazo, but for some reason master and pupil parted company. He was very large and stout and well adapted to play villains, which was his specialty. Everywhere he acted he was popular. He was active on the stage until the age of 75, when he played in a rôle that required that he should appear scantily clothed. Some one in the audience called out to him: “Be careful not to take cold!” to which the veteran replied: “When I am on the stage, I don’t feel cold, I perspire.” Death claimed him but a short time after his retirement. His own son died, and he adopted the actor who later became Kataoka Nizaemon, the eighth.