片冈松燕，Kataoka Shoen was born in Kobe in 1895. He became the disciple of Nakamura Fukuen at the age of six and made his stage debut in "Sakura Sogo" at the Kobe Daikoku Theater. He took after the name of Kataoka Shoen in 1917 in the Naka Theater of Osaka after studying under the great female impersonator-to be, Kataoka Gado.