was a Japanese

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

performer and an artistic director of the

Kabuki-za in Ginza is the principal theater in Tokyo for the traditional ''kabuki'' drama form. History The Kabuki-za was originally opened by a Meiji era journalist, Fukuchi Gen'ichirō. Fukuchi wrote kabuki dramas in which Ichikawa Danjūrō IX and ot ...

in Tokyo.Strom, Stephanie.
"Nakamura Utaemon VI, 84, International Star of Kabuki"
''New York Times.'' April 4, 2001

''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'' He was a prominent member 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 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.Scott, Adolphe C. (1999). He was considered the greatest

onnagata (also ) are male actors who play female roles in kabuki theatre. History The modern all-male kabuki was originally known as ("male kabuki") to distinguish it from earlier forms. In the early 17th century, shortly after the emergence of the g ...

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.While the stage names of all kabuki actors have retained traditional order (Surname-Givenname) on Wikipedia, birth names of those born after the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

are in Western order (Givenname-Surname). 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.

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 OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was ...

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

encompasses roughly 6 works in 6 publications in 2 languages and 9 library holdings * 2006 —
OCLC 70233503
* 1993 —
OCLC 054923943
* 1989 —
OCLC 029849646
* 1984 —
OCLC 054925804

Honors

Japan Art Academy is the highest-ranking official artistic organization in Japan. It is established as an extraordinary organ of the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs (文化庁, Bunkacho) in the thirty-first article of the law establishing the Ministry of Ed ...

, 1963 *

Order of Culture The is a Japanese order, established on February 11, 1937. The order has one class only, and may be awarded to men and women for contributions to Japan's art, literature, science, technology, or anything related to culture in general; recipien ...

, 1979 *

Praemium Imperiale Prince Takamatsu The Praemium Imperiale ( ja, 高松宮殿下記念世界文化賞, Takamatsu-no-miya Denka Kinen Sekai Bunka-shō, World Culture Prize in Memory of His Imperial Highness Prince Takamatsu) is an international art prize inaugura ...

, 1995 "Lloyd Webber Wins Prize,"
''New York Times.'' June 16, 1995. *

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and co ...

, 1996

References

Bibliography

* Brandon, James R
"Myth and Reality: A Story of Kabuki during American Censorship, 1945-1949,"
''Asian Theatre Journal, Volume 23, Number 1, Spring 2006, pp. 1–110. * Leiter, Samuel L. (2006)
''Historical Dictionary of Japanese Traditional Theatre.''
Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press.
OCLC 238637010
* __________. ( 2002)
''A Kabuki Reader: History and Performance.''
;
OCLC 182632867
* Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan Encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

.
OCLC 48943301
* Scott, Adolphe Clarence. (1955)
''The Kabuki Theatre of Japan.''
London: Allen & Unwin
OCLC 622644114
* Takeshi Kaneko

''Yomiuri Shimbun.'' Spring 2009.

External links

*Waseda University

* Online digitized photograph
"Nakamura Utaemon VI meets Rin-Tin-Tin" — Los Angeles, California, July 2, 1960
* Online digitized photograph

* World Digital Library
''Nakamura Utaemon no Katō Masakiyo,'' woodblock print c. 1818–1830
* Find-A-Grave
Utaemon Nakamura, Aoyama Cemetery, Tokyo

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamura, Utaemon VI Kabuki actors Living National Treasures of Japan Recipients of the Order of Culture Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale 1917 births 2001 deaths People from Tokyo Cross-gender male actors People from Tokyo Metropolis Male actors from Tokyo