Nakamura Utaemon VI



Nakamura Utaemon VI (中村歌右衛門 (6代目)) was a Japanese kabuki performer and an artistic director of 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. The name Utaemon indicates personal status as an actor. Such a title can only be assumed after the death of a previous holder, under restrictive succession conventions.

He was considered the greatest onnagata of the post-War period, and was heralded as a "a divine messenger given to kabuki from heaven" during his naming ceremony.

Life and career
Utaemon VI was the son of Nakamura Utaemon V. The actor's name was Fujio Kawamura when he was born in the sixth 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. The name Utaemon VI was formally proclaimed in a 1951 ceremony at the Kabuki theater in Tokyo.


 * 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 acted in many kabuki plays; but he was best known for his oyama roles.

His two adopted sons, Nakamura Baigyoku IV (四代目 中村梅玉) and Nakamura Kaishun II (二代目 中村魁春) are also Kabuki actors (just like his father, Utaemon VI's eldest son, Nakamura Baigyoku IV is currently a Living National Treasure).

Living National Treasure
In 1968, the government of Japan designated him a Living National Treasure, which was a title acknowledging him as a "bearer of important intangible cultural assets." He was the youngest person in history to be recognised a such.

Selected works
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Nakamura Utaemon VI, OCLC/WorldCat encompasses roughly 6 works in 6 publications in 2 languages and 9 library holdings


 * 2006 &mdash; - (伽羅先代萩: 三幕五場) ISBN 9784835615981; OCLC 70233503
 * 1993 &mdash; - (鏡山旧錦絵: 通し狂言四幕六場) OCLC 054923943
 * 1989 &mdash; - (番町皿屋敷: 一幕二場) OCLC 029849646
 * 1984 &mdash; - (大経師昔暦: おさん茂兵衛二幕三場) OCLC 054925804

Honors

 * Japan Art Academy, 1963
 * Order of Culture, 1979
 * Praemium Imperiale, 1995
 * Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1996