was a Japanese kabuki performer in the lineage of a family of kabuki actors from the
Keihanshin
is a metropolitan region in the Kansai region of Japan encompassing the metropolitan areas of the cities of Kyoto in Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka in Osaka Prefecture and Kobe in Hyōgo Prefecture. The entire region has a population () of 19,302,746 o ...
region.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al.'' (2005).
Nakamura Utaemon is a stage name.
Life and career
In 1782, Utaemon I presented this name to a favored apprentice, who was formerly known as Mizuki Tōzō or Nakamura Tōzō. Tōzō had already appeared in many kabuki plays, including the role of Kamura in the 1781 production of ''Hinin no Kataakiuchi.''Leiter, Samuel. (2002). In the conservative Kabuki world, stage names are conveyed in formal system which converts the kabuki stage name into a mark of accomplishment.
Utaemon II abandoned his name in 1790; and he performed as Nakamura Tōzō for the rest of his life. The natural son of Nakamura Utaemon I would become Utaemon III Leiter, Samuel. (2006). in the lineage of the actor formerly known as Utaemon II.
; Lineage of Utaemon stage names
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Nakamura Utaemon I
was a Japanese kabuki performer. He was the progenitor of a family of kabuki actors from the Keihanshin region.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al.'' (2005). He was the son of a provincial doctor. As a youth, he decided to join a troupe of acto ...
(1714–1791)
* Nakamura Utaemon II (1752-1798)
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Nakamura Utaemon III
was a Japanese kabuki performer. He was a prominent member of a family of kabuki actors from the Keihanshin region.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric et al. (2005).
Nakamura Utaemon was a stage name with significant cultural and historical connotatio ...
(1778–1838)
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Nakamura Utaemon IV
was a Japanese kabuki performer. He was a prominent member of a family of kabuki actors from the Keihanshin region.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al.'' (2005).
Nakamura Utaemon was a stage name with significant cultural and historical connot ...