Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII

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Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII 十八代目中村勘三郎

Birth name	Noriaki Namino^[1]
Born	30 May 1955 Tokyo, Japan
Other name(s)	Nakamura Kankurō V
Official site	http://www.mypixel.co.jp/kabuki/nakamura/kankuro.html

Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII (十八代目中村勘三郎)(b. May 30, 1955) is a Japanese actor active in kabuki, other forms of live theatre, television and commercials. Kanzaburō is a versatile actor whose credits include farce, period pieces, and Shin Kabuki.

1 Lineage
2 Life and Career
3 Note
4 Reference
5 External link

[edit] Lineage

Kanzaburō is the eighteenth in the line of Nakamura Kanzaburō, his father the seventeenth. Kanzaburō actually traces his ancestry within the Nakamuraya kabuki guild back to his great-great-great grandfathers, if not further. Both his grandfathers were kabuki actors, as were their fathers.

Kanzaburō is the younger brother of film actress Kuriko Namino^[1]. With his wife Yoshie, he has two sons, Nakamura Kantarō II and Nakamura Shichinosuke II. Both perform kabuki, and in other venues.

[edit] Life and Career

He made his debut under the name Nakamura Kankurō V in April 1959 in the role of Momotaro. His kabuki credits under that name include roles in Kagami-jishi, Kamiyui Shinza and Yotsuya Kaidan.

In addition to performing at the Kabuki-za and other kabuki venues, Kankurō helped establish the Heisei Nakamura-za, a temporary kabuki stage erected for only one set of performances, in a variety of locations. He has erected it, and performed on it, in Asakusa (Tokyo), Osaka, and, in 2004, on a US tour, performing in Boston, New York, and Washington DC.

Noteworthy television roles include Imagawa Yoshimoto in the 1988 Taiga drama Takeda Shingen, Oishi Kuranosuke in the 1999 Taiga drama Genroku Ryoran, Terumasa Ikeda in 武蔵 MUSASHI (2003), and a TBS special Koyoi wa KANKURO. Commercial endorsements include Contac, Japan Post, JT, Suntory and Tokyo Mitsubishi Bank.

He took the name Kanzaburō at a shūmei on March 3, 2005.

[edit] Note

1. ^ ^a ^b 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 are in Western order (Givenname-Surname).