Nakamura Utaemon V

Nakamura Utaemon V (中村歌右衛門 (5代目)) was a Japanese kabuki performer and "dean of kabuki actors at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo". He was a prominent member of a family of kabuki actors from the Keihanshin region.

Nakamura Utaemon was a stage name with significant cultural and historical connotations.

Life and career
Utaemon V was the artistic heir of Nakamura Utaemon IV. He was born in the fifth generation of a line of famous Kabuki actors. In the conservative Kabuki world, stage names are passed from father to son in formal system which converts the kabuki stage name into a mark of accomplishment.


 * Lineage of Utaemon stage names
 * Nakamura Utaemon I (1714–1791)
 * Nakamura Utaemon II (1752-1798)
 * Nakamura Utaemon III (1778-1838)
 * Nakamura Utaemon IV (1798-1852)
 * Nakamura Utaemon V (1865-1940)
 * Nakamura Utaemon VI (1917-2001)

In a long career, he played many roles; but he was best known for his oyama or onnagata roles.

Selected works
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Nakamura Utaemon VI, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 7 works in 7 publications in 2 languages and 20+ library holdings.


 * 1950 &mdash; Styles of Acting in Kabuki (歌舞伎の型) OCLC 033711674
 * 1935 &mdash; Autobiography of Nakamura Utaemon Gosei (歌右衛門自傅). OCLC 44435876