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 ...
performer. 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 ov ...
region.
[Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric ''et al.'' (2005). ]
Nakamura Utaemon was a stage name with significant cultural and historical connotations.
Life and career
Utaemon IV was believed to be the artistic heir of Nakamura Utaemon III. 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.
; 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
was a Japanese kabuki performer and "dean of kabuki actors at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo".Nakamura Utaemon VI
was a Japanese kabuki performer and an artistic director of the Kabuki-za in Tokyo.Strom, Stephanie."Nakamura Utaemon VI, 84, International Star of Kabuki" ''New York Times.'' April 4, 2001''The Dallas Morning News'' He was a prominent member ...
(1917–2001)
In a long career, he acted in many roles including Ishikawa Goemon in the 1838 Edo Nakamura-za production of ''Sanmon Hitome Senbon.''Ritsumeikan University
is a private university in Kyoto, Japan, that traces its origin to 1869. In addition to its main campus in Kyoto, the university also has satellite campuses in Ibaraki, Osaka and Kusatsu, Shiga.
Today, Ritsumeikan University is known as one o ...
, Art Research Center
Utaemon IV
ukiyo-e
is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...
style woodblock print
Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later on paper. Each page or image is creat ...
by Utagawa Kunisada
Utagawa Kunisada (; 1786 – 12 January 1865), also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III (, ), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist. He is considered the most popular, prolific and commercially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th- ...
.
See also
* Shūmei
''Shūmei'' (, "name succession") are grand naming ceremonies held in kabuki theatre. Most often, a number of actors will participate in a single ceremony, taking on new stage names.
These stage names, most often those of the actor's father, gr ...
References
Bibliography
* 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 an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou.
The pres ...
.
OCLC 48943301
* Scott, Adolphe Clarence. (1955)
''The Kabuki Theatre of Japan.''
London: Allen & Unwin
OCLC 622644114
External links
*Waseda University
"Memorial portrait of Nakamura Utaemon [IV
at age 57"">V">"Memorial portrait of Nakamura Utaemon [IV
at age 57"by Kunisada">Utagawa Kunisada
Utagawa Kunisada (; 1786 – 12 January 1865), also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III (, ), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist. He is considered the most popular, prolific and commercially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th- ...
, at the University of Michigan Museum of Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamura, Utaemon IV
Kabuki actors
1798 births
1852 deaths
19th-century Japanese male actors
Male actors from Tokyo
Narikomaya