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. Also posted at The Dallas Morning News He was a prominent member of a family of kabuki actors from the Keihanshin region.Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric et al. (2005).

Nakamura Utaemon was a stage name with significant cultural and historical connotations.Kurkup, James. "Nakamura Utaemon VI," The Independent (London). April 6, 2001. 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 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 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 a 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.Trumbull, Robert. "Kabuki Theatre Elevates Actor In Traditional Japanese Rites," New York Times. April 12, 1960.

Lineage of Utaemon stage names Nakamura Utaemon I (1714–1791) Leiter, Samuel L. (2006). Nakamura Utaemon II (1752–1798) Leiter, Samuel L. (2002). Nakamura Utaemon III (1778–1838) Nakamura Utaemon IV (1798–1852) Nakamura Utaemon V (1865–1940) "Utaemon Nakamura", New York Times. September 11, 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.

His two adopted sons, Nakamura Baigyoku IV (四代目 中村梅玉) and Nakamura Kaishun II (二代目 中村魁春) are also Kabuki actors (just like his father, Utaemon VI's eldest son, Nakamura Baigyoku IV is currently a Living National Treasure).

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/WorldCat encompasses roughly 6 works in 6 publications in 2 languages and 9 library holdings WorldCat Identities: 中村歌右衛門 6世 1917-2001; 中村歌右衛門 1917- .

2006 – ; OCLC 70233503 1993 – OCLC 054923943 1989 – OCLC 029849646 1984 – OCLC 054925804

Honors Japan Art Academy, 1963 Leiter, Order of Culture, 1979 Praemium Imperiale, 1995 "Lloyd Webber Wins Prize," New York Times. June 16, 1995. Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1996 Notes

See also List of people on stamps of Japan Shūmei

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. ; OCLC 48943301 Scott, Adolphe Clarence. (1955). The Kabuki Theatre of Japan. London: Allen & Unwin. OCLC 622644114 Takeshi Kaneko. "A Man with the Brilliance of a Flower; Nakamura Utaemon VI," Yomiuri Shimbun. Spring 2009.

External links Waseda University, Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum ; Permanent exhibit, Nakamura Utaemon VI Online digitized photograph: "Nakamura Utaemon VI meets Rin-Tin-Tin" — Los Angeles, California, July 2, 1960 Online digitized photograph: Yukio Mishima with Nakamura Utaemon VI, 1954 World Digital Library: Nakamura Utaemon no Katō Masakiyo, woodblock print c. 1818–1830 Find-A-Grave: Utaemon Nakamura, Aoyama Cemetery, Tokyo Japan Art Academy