was a Japanese

kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

and film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1941 and 1980, directed by notable filmmakers such as

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Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese filmmaker who directed roughly one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include '' The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), '' The Life of Oharu'' (1952), '' Ugetsu'' (1953), and ' ...

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...

, and

Mikio Naruse was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily Shoshimin-eiga, shōshimin-eiga ("common people drama") films with f ...

Lineage

Born into a renowned

Kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...

acting family from

Kansai The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropoli ...

, Ganjirō II was the youngest son of Nakamura Ganjirō I, one of the most celebrated Kabuki actors from the 1870s to the 1930s and grandson of Nakamura Kanjaku III, one of the most outstanding ''kaneru yakusha'' in the history of Kabuki theater. His older brother, Hayashi Mataichirō II was a Kabuki actor like him and was known for his spectacular and outstanding skills as a Kabuki dancer. Ganjirō II was the second in the line of actors to inherit the prestigious name

Nakamura Ganjirō is the stage name of a line of kabuki actors in Japan. Lineage * Nakamura Ganjirō I (March 1878 – February 1935): Son of Nakamura Kanjaku III *Nakamura Ganjirō II (January 1947 – April 1983): Son of Ganjirō I. He was active during ...

(the first being his father, Nakamura Ganjirō I) and his son and his eldest grandson would also inherit the name, being known respectively as Nakamura Ganjirō III (currently

Sakata Tōjūrō IV was a Japanese kabuki actor in the Kamigata style and was officially designated a Living National Treasure (Japan), Living National Treasure. Unlike most kabuki actors, he performed both male and female roles, and was renowned as both a skilled ...

) and Nakamura Ganjirō IV. Before being known as Nakamura Ganjirō II, he was known as Nakamura Senjaku I and his son and youngest grandson would inherit the name Nakamura Senjaku, being known respectively as Nakamura Senjaku II (currently

) and Nakamura Senjaku III. His two great-grandsons are also Kabuki actors, Nakamura Kazutarō (son of Nakamura Ganjirō IV) and Nakamura Toranosuke (son of Nakamura Senjaku III). Due to the fact that he is the son and heir of Ganjirō IV (eldest son of Sakata Tōjūrō IV and eldest grandson of Ganjirō II) and the eldest great-grandson of Ganjirō II, Kazutarō is expected to become the head of the Kamigata branch of the Narikomaya

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

and inherit the name Nakamura Ganjirō V (五代目中村鴈治郎) in a near future.

Filmography

Film

Television

Honors

* 1967 – Living National Treasure * 1968 – Medal with Purple Ribbon * 1974 – Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd class, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon * 1980 –

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honour which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

* 1983 – Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class, Gold and Silver Star (posthumous) * 1983 – Senior fourth rank (posthumous)

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamura, Ganjiro 1902 births 1983 deaths Hayashi family Japanese male film actors Kabuki actors Male actors from Osaka Narikomaya 20th-century Japanese male actors Living National Treasures of Japan Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd class Persons of Cultural Merit