Nakamura Jakuemon IV


Nakamura Jakuemon IV was a Japanese kabuki actor most known for onnagata performance.
WWW kabuki.ne.jp/jakuemon

Names and lineage

Born into a well-known family of Kabuki actors from Tokyo, Aoki was the first actor to bear the name Ōtani Hirotarō, the seventh actor to bear the name Ōtani Tomoemon and the fourth actor to bear the prestigious name Nakamura Jakuemon, being known throughout his long career as a Kabuki actor first as Ōtani Hirotarō I, then as Ōtani Tomoemon VII and at the height of his career as Nakamura Jakuemon IV, which would become his most famous stage name.
His two sons are also Kabuki actors: his eldest son, Ōtani Tomoemon VIII inherited the name and acting style of his grandfather, Ōtani Tomoemon VI while his youngest son, Nakamura Jakuemon V inherited the name and acting style of Jakuemon IV himself.

Biography

Born in Tokyo, Japan on August 20, 1920, he was the son of popular Kabuki actor Ōtani Tomoemon VI, a well-known Tachiyaku actor and who died during the 1943 Tottori earthquake while on tour in Shimane Prefecture, when the kabuki theater where he was to perform collapsed on top of him.
In 1991 the Japanese government designated him as a Living National Treasure.

Filmography