Nakamura Jakuemon IV | |
Birth Name: | Seiji Aoki (青木清治) |
Birth Date: | 20 August 1920 |
Birth Place: | Nihonbashi, Chūō-ku, Tokyo, Japan |
Occupation: | Kabuki actor |
Spouse: | Akiko Aoki (Unknown-2012) |
Parents: | Ōtani Tomoemon VI (father)[1] |
Children: | Ōtani Tomoemon VIII (eldest son) Nakamura Jakuemon V (youngest son) |
Relatives: | Nakamura Sagisuke II (grandfather) Nakamura Fukunojō (great uncle) Matsumoto Kōshirō VII (father-in-law) Ōtani Hirotarō III (grandson) Ōtani Hiromatsu II (grandson) |
(20 August 192022 February 2012)[2] was a Japanese kabuki actor most known for onnagata performance.
Born in Tokyo, Japan on August 20, 1920, he was the son of popular Kabuki actor Ōtani Tomoemon VI (1886-1943), a well-known Tachiyaku actor (i.e. he only played male roles) 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.[1]
In 1991 the Japanese government designated him as a Living National Treasure.[3]
His two sons are also Kabuki actors: his eldest son, Ōtani Tomoemon VIII (Real Name: Tomoyuki Aoki, Nihongo: 青木智之, Aoki Tomoyuki) inherited the name and acting style of his grandfather, Ōtani Tomoemon VI (unlike his father and younger brother, Tomoemon VIII became a Tachiyaku just as his grandfather Tomoemon VI) while his youngest son, Nakamura Jakuemon V (Real Name: Sadayuki Aoki, Nihongo: 青木貞之, Aoki Sadayuki) inherited the name and acting style of Jakuemon IV himself (becoming one of the main Onnagata of the current era).[1] [4] [5]