Draft:Nakamura Jakuemon V

Nakamura Jakuemon V (五代目 中村雀右衛門) (20 November 1955) is a Japanese kabuki actor, currently considered one of the most famous and celebrated leading onnagata actors (i.e., a Kabuki actor specializing in female roles) in Kabuki theater today.

Early life
Born in Tokyo, Japan on November 20, 1955, Jakuemon V is the youngest son of Nakamura Jakuemon IV (one of the most celebrated onnagata actors of the Showa and Heisei eras) and Akiko Aoki (daughter of renowned Kabuki actor Matsumoto Kōshirō VII).

He made his debut as a Kabuki actor in February 1961, when he received his first stage name, Ōtani Hiromatsu I and a few years later, in September 1964 he changed his name to Nakamura Shibajaku VII.

Career
His first prominent role as a Kabuki actor was playing Minamoto no Yoshitsune in the play Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura in August 1969, opposite important actors such as Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII and Nakamura Matagorō III (younger brother of the Living National Treasure Nakamura Karoku V).

A few years later, in July 1984, he had his first major role as an onnagata actor, playing the geisha Oharu in the play Kanadehon Chushingura, opposite two rising tachiyaku actors (i.e., Kabuki actors specializing in male roles), Bandō Mitsugorō X and Kataoka Nizaemon XV.

Between 1985 and 1986, he went on two tours outside of Japan along with other Kabuki actors, first in the USA, celebrating the shūmei (or name-taking ceremony) of the famous Kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjuro XII and later in South Korea.

In 1995, he made his film acting debut playing fellow Kabuki actor Iwai Hanshirō IV (1744—1800) in the film Sharaku. In November 2002, he played for the first time the difficult role of Princess Yaegaki in the play Honcho Nijushiko.

In June 2010, he goes on another international tour outside Japan, this time in Western Europe, with stops in London (Sadler's Wells) and in Rome (Teatro dell'Opera di Roma).

On February 22, 2012, his father, Jakuemon IV, passed away from pneumonia in Tokyo.

In 2016, Shibajaku VII inherits the prestigious name Nakamura Jakuemon (considered one of the most prestigious names in Kabuki theater) and he becomes Nakamura Jakuemon V, as well as becoming the head of the Kyōya acting house (which was led by his father, Jakuemon IV). To celebrate his new name, Jakuemon V performs his shūmei (or name-taking ceremony) traveling throughout Japan and playing some of Kabuki's most important onnagata roles, such as Princess Yuki from the play Kinkakuji, Yūgiri Ōgiya from the play Kuruwa Bunshō and Okaru from the play Kanadehon Chushingura.